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Through the Venetian gates at the top of the Grand Cascade is the Ornamental Garden; a structured garden brimming with plants. Here, an intricate planting pattern is created with a play of light and shade, grey and green foliage, flowers, fruit and aerial lacework created by pleached crab apples. Follow inviting pathways bordered by lavender and fruit trees, and discover quiet places to sit and catch the sun.
At the Ornamental Garden’s centre lies a bubbling pool that spills into the rills that run throughout the Garden, and into two small secret gardens. Beds of bedding roses and delphiniums are edged in box, while cut flower species grow with annuals and bulbs alongside small fruit varieties.
Cream domes of hydrangea appear from within cornus mas hedging, and herbaceous borders of musk hybrids, tree peonies, shrubs and ornamental trees line the Garden’s mellow walls.
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| Behind big black gates, the carefully curated garden contains about 100 legendary killers like Atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade), Strychnos nux-vomica (strychnine), and Conium maculatum (hemlock). Guides explain their deadly properties while keeping ne'er-do-wells and curious children away from the plants, warning them: "Do not touch any of the plants, don't even smell them. There are plants here that can kill you." |
