The project is the culmination of six months' work by Richard Beales working with Capel Manor, the Garden’s sponsor, Kate Bartlett, and members of Princess Diana’s family. The final version created by Richard was planted by him with Senior Gardener Julie Dowbiggin and other members of the garden team in early March. Since then it has been watched over carefully and nourished steadily.
“It has been the greatest privilege to be invited to design such a special garden”, said Richard Beales. “Every aspect of the work, from designing the garden’s free-standing structures to display the roses, through the selection of roses with names that add to the concept of legacy and moving on, to the physical planting and watching the garden come into flower, has been a tribute to the legacy of the late Princess of Wales. I hope visitors will enjoy seeing and interpreting it as much as we have enjoyed creating it”.
The garden structures, designed specifically for the Legacy Garden by Richard to display the roses to maximum effect, have been manufactured in Germany. The Managing Director, Johannes Dietrich, is delighted that his company’s work forms part of the Garden. “I have worked with Richard and his designs over a number of years, especially at Chelsea,” he said, “but never for a Garden with a purpose quite like this. It is very special in its individuality”.
Of the roses used to create the Garden, 90% are perfumed, a deliberate move by Richard who feels strongly that perfume enhances pleasure in a rose. It also adds a dimension for those visitors who are unable to see, leaving them in no doubt that they are surrounded by roses.
“I like to think that this is a Garden for everyone,” concludes Richard. “One that reaches out and delights all visitors”.
The Diana Legacy Rose Garden was the idea of Lady Salisbury (Governor of Capel Manor College) and Julie Dowbiggin, Head Gardener, to replace the earlier “Meditation” Diana Garden planted there some years ago in memory of The Princess of Wales.
The Garden in numbers:
- Total number of varieties: 31
- Grouped in: threes, fives, the occasional six, a fifteen and a few singles
- The range of groups varies: eg Portland’s,Polyanthus and modern shrubs, to give an extended flowering season and also to include roses from around the world
- All the varieties shown in green will tolerate shade
- All roses listed in red are Beales family roses, bred or introduced by Peter Beales Roses
@therosedoctor
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For further press information and images of the garden, please contact Margaret Phillips at [email protected] or Tania Stafford at [email protected]
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