Sissinghurst...what
can I say about this beautiful garden that Harold and Vita Sackville-West discovered and
rescued. It occupies a very ancient site, somewhere around the Middle Ages. There used to
be a stone manor house surrounded by a moat - that was replaced by a mansion by the Baker
family. In 1756 it was a prison camp and there was so much damage to the old building that
at the end of the war two-thirds of it was demolished. Harold and Vita came along in 1930,
fell in love with the place and it was five years before they even had water or
electricity. What remains now of the original house is the
Entrance, a long building dating from 1490. Originally a stable it is now called the Long
Library mostly used for storing furniture from her family home and all the books she
reviewed. The Tower is what Vita wanted..this is where she would write, isolated and it
remained her sanctum until she died at age 70. What we see now is a love story...a story of
a couple who have made this their home and turned their land into a series of gardens that
draw oohs and aahs with each separate garden. One of the pictures show the Cottage
Garden..all in yellow, red and orange...what a site! The white Wisteria that you see on the Moat
Wall was hidden in the tangle of briars. Who knows how old it is....we were there at the
perfect time, it was full of flowers and fragrance and that only happens for two weeks! There are pictures of some of the roses that
are in bloom..but in the White Garden, there is a rose, Rosa mulliganni, that sends forth
thousands of blossums in July and is the site of many weddings. Sissinghurst is truly a beautiful
garden...and should be on everyones wish list...it was a collaboration between two people
that worked!
