COLOUR BURST
Tulips are not just from Amsterdam. There’s a dazzling variety of them at Willowhill in Newport-on-Tay, filling the garden with a sensational spectrum in spring
Willowhill is a long way from Amsterdam but is awash with colourful tulips
‘ May is the first month that the garden has dramatic variations in colour as the tulips begin to emerge’
Seventeen years ago, when Sally Lorimore and Eric Wright bought Willowhill, their undulating three-acre garden near Newport-on-Tay in Fife, they did so with the express intention of creating a garden they would open to visitors on a regular basis. The aim was a garden for all seasons, starting with brightly coloured tulips in May. ‘ The selling point for us was the land,’ Sally says. ‘We are both passionate gardeners and the land here was a blank canvas.’
When they initially began planning the garden, two themes emerged. ‘The first was to fit the garden into the wider landscape,’ Sally continues. ‘We wanted to provide a sense of travel, drawing the eye of the viewer up towards the background focal point of a distant gap in the tree line.’
This feeling of movement was achieved by the creation of curving, sweeping paths that extend from the immediate garden through the wild garden and on towards t he tree line. To the couple’s delight, this area proved friendly to wildlife.
In spring, the fresh, young grass is alive with different bulbs. ‘ We chose naturallooking varieties, such as the soft wild daffodil
Narcissus pseudonarcissus and the brighter Tenby daffodil.’ These are followed by pale and white yellow ‘Pipit’ and fragrant ‘ Pheasant’s Eye’, which flowers in combination with blue and white Camassia quamash.
The second theme was the introduction of vibrant colour combinations in the different herbaceous beds that radiate on all sides of the single-storey house. On the north side, a circular lawn enclosed by mixed borders
‘ We wanted to provide a sense of travel, drawing the eye of the viewer up towards a distant gap in the tree
of shrubs is underplanted with bulbs and perennials. Here, in summer, the scheme runs from pale pink, blue, purple, white and yellow before blending to deep orange, chocolate and purple-red hues. From here, paths lead to a vegetable plot that has been laid out in rectangular beds.
To the west, a terrace of alpines leads to a wildlife pond in a large grassland area planted with trees, bulbs and herbaceous perennials, through which wide, sweeping paths are mown. On the southern side of the house, a gravel path meanders through beds planted in a palette of bright primary reds, blues and yellows.
This area is backed by a stone wall through which a gateway leads to a long border packed with orange, magenta, purple and acid yellow plants opposite two newly developed areas containing borders of bulbs, roses and perennials. Early-season colour is provided by many varieties of hellebore.
‘In particular, we like the Ashwood
‘ The scheme runs from pale pink, blue, white and yellow before blending to deep orange, chocolate and purple red’
‘They stand out well in late winter and hold their heads up high for all to see’
Garden’s hellebore hybrids Neon, Sunrise and Sunset as they stand out well in late winter and hold their heads up high for all to see,’ says Sally.
But in spring, tulips reign supreme and all the colour rules are broken. ‘May is the first time the garden has dramatic variations in colour as the tulips emerge,’ she says. These are set against the light green of emerging foliage such as euphorbias – E palustris, polychroma and
griffithii ‘Fireglow’ are special favourites – and the unfurling leaves of shrubs. ‘The aim is for
a very lively and sometimes shockingly bright display.’
Experience has shown how this is best achieved: perennial favourites that continue to prove their worth in this free-draining north Fife soil include the shorter species tulips, such as fiery red Tulipa linifolia and ‘Red Riding Hood’, burnt orange T. whittallii, yellow
T. tarda, soft orange ‘Prinses Irene’, deep red ‘Kingsblood’ and deep purple ‘Queen of Night’, fresh white and green ‘ Spring Green’, pale pink and green ‘Greenland’ and ‘Nightrider’. The frilly ‘parrot’ varieties are represented by ‘Apricot’ and intricate orange ‘Parrot King’.
The bulbs are planted in mixed groups of colour and in drifts to provide a natural look that chimes with the outer garden. They are typically placed at the back of borders so emerging perennials will cover dying foliage as much as possible. ‘This avoids a scruffy look later in the season,’ Sally points out.
A special favourite is frilly orange ‘ Prof Rontgen’, named after the German physicist who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of X-rays in 1895. ‘We had to buy this as not only is it a fabulous orange, but because Eric, now a retired university professor, worked extensively on the health effects of radiation, in particular radiation-induced leukaemia.’
Experience has shown that tulips are most likely to flower again if dug in really deeply. It’s a philosophy that Sally believes in. ‘We double dig with a layer of mulch on top,’ she says. ‘We find the larger bulbs can be as much as 18 to 24 inches under the ground.’
Both Sally and Eric love the elegant lily varieties, especially scarlet ‘Red Shine’ and orange ‘Ballerina’, but sadly they don’t last long. ‘They do well when first planted, but gradually decline in numbers year after year.’
With such a display to share, it comes as no surprise that the fun of opening the garden remains undiminished after 15 years. ‘Best of all, the garden visitors are so nice and friendly, and garden openings are a great place to share and exchange ideas,’ she says.
‘ The bulbs are planted in mixed groups of colour and in drifts for a natural look that chimes with the outer garden’