PHOTOS
ALAMY, MICHAEL M
cCOY
GARDENING AUSTRALIA MAY 2019 51TRAVEL
head gardeners who took the quality of
the garden to places English gardening
had never gone before.
But notoriety reached its peak when
Vita’s son Nigel discovered a bagful of
private papers after her death, revealing
the extraordinary and intriguing details of
his parents’ married life, and published his
findings in a book, Portrait of a Marriage,
which was later made into a TV series.
It’s amazing to think of how many
garden ideas of the 20th century ‘caught
on’ by being so beautifully and seductively
executed at Sissinghurst. The division ofCLOCKWISE
FROM MAIN
A peek through to the
rose garden, which is
said to contain one of the
world’s finest collections
of these much-loved
flowers; the focal point
of the rose garden is the
Rondel, constructed of
tall English yew hedges;
dainty yellow lady’s
mantle (Alchemilla spp.)
softens the edges of a
path; super-crisp hedges
define garden rooms,
resolving the alignment
of an odd assortment of
original buildings.