Hollyhocks in Penshurst Place

You can see the black and white Tudor building in the distance and note the circular wall ties in the old church wall behind the Hollyhock to stop it bowing into the road too much. 

I am very lucky that on my epic voyage to and from work I not only drive through some beautiful English countryside, but also several very old, very traditional little villages.  Being English I see 600 year old buildings every day and I have got terribly blase about it.  However I can see that my readers from the USA would rather like the village of Penshurst in Kent.  Built above a river which floods far too regularly and in which I nearly got my car stuck last winter: a rather alarming experience, this little village is the epitome of picturesque.  With three little bridges, Tudor buildings, a church, a 14th century manor house and an unhelpfully narrow road that I spend a great deal of time trying to navigate, Penshurst has it all.

I always enjoy being able to see flowers from the road after all I get to enjoy them twice a day without any of the work of growing them.  I say always; Im less thrilled when flowers decide they really do want to be admired by passing motorists and actually grow into the road as a clump of Hollyhock spikes did in Penshurst.  There are enough hazards to avoid on that particular stretch that make every morning a little hairy without having to avoid hollyhock as well, as nice as they are.  But being such glorious specimens and complimenting the image of the village so well I have managed to forgive them.  So much so I again risked my life by nipping along the verge right by the narrow part of the road to take a few pictures.

Balls on a stem- Im a fan!

In many ways I think the inconvenient nature of their positioning is part of their charm, for such a tall statuesque plant these particular ones have the slight air of "I will grow here! Am I in the middle of the road?  Is this inconvenient for you?  Well thats life my friend!  Deal with it".  The clump at the top of the stairs particularly resonates with this, it appears to be growing straight out of a concrete slab which of course isn't possible so it must have found a toehold of soil to support all 5 foot of plant.  Remarkable what plants can do when they set their mind to it, shame my seedlings can't have the same thrive instinct.  The stairs in question belong to a very old building which I believe is part of Penshurst Place; a 14th century manor house and gardens which I have never been in but I hear is lovely.

Its going to be a bit quiet on here for the next week- Im off to Marrakech today!  Super excited and hoping to see some greenery including a garden by Yves Saint Laurent so will definitely put some posts together when I come back.

See you then x.