The Sitting Spiritually Pergola

“As a natural material, when oak is exposed to the elements it will mature and change colour over time. It will naturally mellow to a lovely silver hue that allows the surrounding planting scheme to really take centre stage. Rambling plants, climbers and vines provide the most perfect partner to a pergola – creating a feast for the senses.”

November 2013

The Sitting Spiritually Pergola was one of the first we ever made, and was installed here in the garden  in late 2013.  It was a chance for us to really see, close up, how it behaved and mellowed during the changing seasons.

Rosa Kiftsgate

Initially, we planted a Rosa Kiftsgate, and whilst this is a truly stunning rose, with a glorious scent, it does only flower once in its season, for about two weeks, so our experiments needed to be widened.

Rosa The Lady of the Lake

We then went on to move the Kiftsgate elsewhere in the garden, and  planted two Rosa The Lady of the Lake either side of the pergola, this pretty rose has semi-double flowers, each about 2” across, held in sprays on long, slender and flexible stems, with a fresh, citrus fragrance.  It is also, really importantly, repeat flowering throughout the season.

Honeysuckle

Next we added to this scheme with a Honeysuckle,  Lonicera Graham Thomas. This is a large twining deciduous climber with dark green leaves and clusters of fragrant white flowers which soon turn to a creamy yellow, followed by red berries red, which the birds love. It has a long flowering season and again, really importantly for when sitting under a pergola, a wonderful fragrance.

Natural Shade

All of these, in addition to providing exquisite scent, provide that all important natural shade on a hot Summer’s day.

Succession

The Gallery below shows you what we have discussed here in detail.  We will continue to monitor the pergola and its plantings, and as we are always developing the garden, who knows what will happen next, but for us that is the wonderful thing about a garden, it is never finished, but continues to evolve.

More Coming Soon....

Look out for another blog on pergolas soon, where we discuss the particular merits of our own, hand built pergolas.

If you would like to contribute a guest blog, please contact Siobhan at siobhan@sittingspiritually.co.uk