and camellias and rhododendrons. The gardens have burst into colour over the last week, with the magnolias taking pride of place in my opinion. These beautiful shrubs and trees range in colour from pure white through pink to a stunning purple, and the huge blooms have a very delicate scent. They don’t last long, if… Read more »
…and there are the signs all over the Gardens. The daffodils and primroses are in bloom along Lady Lucy’s Walk and the hellebores are massed in the shrubbery nearby. Take a close look at one of them; there are cream flowers freckled with purple, dusky mauve spotted with magenta, and rich purple with darker veins… Read more »
Have you ever noticed how the roadside verges change colour with the advance of Spring? The process starts with the white of snowdrops peeping out from under the hedges, then changes to yellow with the primroses and the bright bursts of daffodils.Tthe yellow fades to cream as the narcissi take over and then the white… Read more »
It might be difficult to believe, it seems like the depths of winter, but already there are signs of Spring around! Along Lady Lucy’s Walk, the very first snowdrops and primroses are showing their delicate colour, with more shoots coming up all the time. The rhododendrons are covered in buds, promising their glorious colour for… Read more »
The gardens are settling down for the winter but that means that you can now see the structure and grandeur of the trees without the distraction of their leaves. There are some magnificent specimen trees in the gardens; just look at the patterns of the bark. Some of them look like they’ve almost been combed… Read more »
What were your favourite things about Autumn when you were a child? It might have been collecting conkers or beech nut husks, watching the squirrels busy collecting acorns, making collages with all the brilliant coloured leaves you’d found or the excitement of Bonfire Night. For all those big and little kids who still enjoy these things, they are… Read more »
The bees are busy collecting the last of the nectar from the autumn flowering crocuses and dahlias in the John Arnold Garden. You can see why autumn crocuses are also called naked ladies as there are no leaves to conceal the beautiful flowers of white or purple. The huge seedheads of the artichokes are fascinating… Read more »
The dahlias are at their best in the September sunshine, with the bees fighting over the nectar. The flowers are in a myriad of colours and sizes from huge yellow spikes to tidy little bushes covered in pom-pom blooms that look almost artificial as they are so neat. The baroque wing of the castle forms… Read more »
The brightest colours in the Gardens are to be seen in the Victorian Flower Garden, where the yellow and orange begonias contrast with the purple heliotrope; a shy and retiring display it is not!. The Victorians loved bright colours and this is the feel that the Garden Team aim to recreate. Elsewhere the atmosphere of… Read more »
As the last few petals appear on the spring flowering plants, there is now a distinct feel of early summer to the Gardens . The gardeners have been busy in the last two weeks taking out the spring bedding, digging well rotted manure into the soil and planting out the summer bedding plants which this… Read more »
