The Beauty of Brockwell
Brockwell Park bound and *shhh* discretion is required as I attended my annual (and probably final) inspection of the beautiful Brockwell Secret Garden at the height of midsummer.
For one month in the year, the walled garden of SE24 is truly spectacular (it’s simply spectacular for the remaining eleven months of the year.)
Hidden away behind the community greenhouse and acting as a South London sun trap, it is these late June days when the true splendour of Brockwell is best appreciated.
My early morning visit found me at one with the garden. Not a single other person in sight, which is probably where the secret part of the prefix comes from.
I positioned myself with a micro lens to capture the foliage from up close, disturbed only by a lone bee, before taking something of a soaking from a hidden sprinkler.
The high point was finding the flowering magnolia, something that my rather weak specimen back at base has failed to achieve in fours summers of SW8 attendance. We’re hopeful that the sea breeze of Wivenhoe might make a difference.
With work commitments waiting, my annual pilgrimage was as short as it was delightful. Sketches are in place, and hopefully midsummer 2011 might see something a lot closer to home to capture the beauty of an English garden at the high point of summer.
