A grand passion for heritage roses lies behind the creation of one of Scotland’s most beautiful gardens.

Carolside House, which sits in a narrow valley, overlooking a curve in the river Leader near Earlston in the borders, is an elegant 18th century mansion. Around it lie lawns that are green and smooth, but tucked away behind the house is a place so wildly romantic that it could have fallen from the pages of a fairytale.

The rose garden that lies here, surrounded by high, curving walls, is the creation of Rose Foyle, who has been inspired by the gardens of Ireland that she knew as a child.

In fact a love of one flower has defined Rose's life for as long as she can remember, ever since her grandmother encouraged her to bury her face within the roses in her garden and inhale their scents. Later, as a young wife in London, the flowers that Rose grew on her patio were just a small fragment of the rose garden that she was planning in her head and it was only when she arrived at Carolside that Rose finally had space to fully realise her vision, setting Paul's Himalayan Musk and Blush ramblers loose to hang in luxuriant swags around the walls while she filled the borders with the pre-1900 Gallica roses that are her abiding love.

Gallicas are amongst the oldest of all cultivated roses. They include the Apothecary's Rose, R. gallica var. officinalis and Rosa Mundi (R. gallica 'Versicolor'), with its distinctive carnival stripes. Today the Gallicas that bloom at Carolside form a Plant Heritage National Collection and when they bloom in early summer the effect is almost overwhelming. Thousands of buds unfurl silken petals, filling the air with their heady scent, while around them a profusion of soft-coloured perennials adds  a layer of froth.

Rose spends a great deal of time considering what to grow beneath the roses, choosing plants that produce gentle harmonies. Campanula persicifolia 'Cornish Mist' is a favourite, its sky blue flowers making the perfect foil for the pink and white roses that are Rose's favourite shades.

And while the romance of the Gallicas has her in its thrall, Rose is still susceptible to a new passion.

"Recently I fell in love with  the hybrid tea 'Blue Moon'."What a rose! It is a true love affair, that lilac blue shade that fades to pale pink is so beautiful."

And she has other obsessions too. "I am mad about my herbaceous border and also about my delphiniums."

Scottish Gardener:

Carolside sits in a heavy frost pocket and the soil, although fertile, is free draining but despite this the roses flourish, aided by regular applications of mushroom compost. The summer months pass in a flurry of weeding and dead-heading but the tangle of growth goes mostly unchecked and visitors who arrive during the six weeks while flowering is at its height are brushed by scented blooms as they walk the paths.

Rose says that her aim has always been to create a cottage garden, and so strawberries and artichokes grow amongst the roses, while sweet peas wind their tendrils around canes.

"The garden is not big and it is not grand," says Rose."Anyone who comes here can find something that relates to their own garden," and she is touchingly modest about any claims that her garden is anything out of the ordinary.

Others beg to differ. It has been described as: “One of the finest gardens in Scotland," and her own gardener, Mr Tuft, says: "Mrs Foyle doesn't realise just how special her garden is.”

Rose works in the garden every day and continues to move it gently forward, creating a winter garden beyond the walls and opening up fresh vistas to carry the eye from one area to the next.

"I've even planted some tall grasses in the border next to the lawn where in summer we serve the teas," she says. "Maybe it is not such an old-fashioned garden after all."

Scottish Gardener:

Old Favourites
Gallicas roses were grown by the Greeks and Romans and commonly used in mediaeval gardens. The Empress Josephine, rose lover and wife of Napoleon, amassed a large collection at Malmaison, her garden near Paris and during the 19th century the Gallica was the most important species of rose to be cultivated.

Unlike modern roses which can carry on blooming for many months, Gallicas flower only once.

 

Garden Notebook
Carolside House, Earlston, Scottish Borders TD4 6AL
Open by appointment
Tel: 01896 849272
Email: info@carolside.com
www.carolside.com