Chartwell’s glorious walled gardensFemale Emperor Dragonfly ovipositing in Churchill’s Golden Orfe (Goldfish) PondOld-fashioned Rhubarb-forcing pots. The roots are grown to be big and strong, then planted out. Early in spring, the roots are covered with the pot, so the leaves etiolate, growing tall leaf-stalks (petioles) very rapidly as the plants search desperately for light. The result: big early rhubarb, without bitterness, greenness, or toughness, ready to poach gently in sugared water and serve.Chartwell, wonderful on many levels (including the garden’s numerous terraces) – historical, political, landscape, garden design, and sheer colour and space, delightful. The house dates back to Tudor times, c. 1550, though there was some sort of building here centuries before that. In the foreground, the wide meadow contains an area left to grow tall full of Knapweed and other wild flowers and grasses.
The English seem unemotional … except for their passion for nature
