Roger’s Rough is a mighty strange name for a house, and I didn’t know what to expect from this Yellow Book garden. It turns out that the house isn’t even owned by anyone called Roger, but Richard Bird, who is a garden writer and author of several books including The Propagation of Hardy Perennials.
The front garden is a cottage garden on steroids, and the huge back garden, divided into rooms, is like a mini Merriments (see below). It’s overflowing with plants, many of which I realised I didn’t recognise.
Richard collects unusual plants, many of them given to him garden writer pals, and was more than happy to tell us about them. So I discovered Buddleia loricata (silver leafed, South African), Hieracium lanatum (leafy hawkweed) and Delphinium staphisagria.
Whether I would recognise them again is another matter.
I have just realised who you are (I subscribe to Which Gardening) and I use Richard Birds book as a bible (next to the other one-Thompson) and I love the simplicity of your blog (and I hate blogs)…just thought I’d mention the mag is just brilliant hope you have a good readership.
yours – a gardening addict (hope you find a garden soon) PS I am the NGS’s bit of ruff in Hampshire X
Hi Pauline
Thanks for your lovely comment! When we were going around the garden an elderly lady told Richard that a copy of his book had been in her greenhouse for years, and that it’s her bible. I’ll have to check it out!
Veronica