It’s been weird weather over this last six months; an incredibly mild autumn followed by deluges of rain and flooding. Like us, the garden plants are very confused; already there ar
e daffodils in flower locally, while in other places, the snowdrops are hardly poking through the soil. However, there are signs of spring around, snowdrops and primroses, hellebores and the very earliest of the rhododendrons are adding colour to the borders and walks in the Gardens. Last year’s hydrangea flowers have faded to soft pastels, reminiscent of an old painting, also adding texture and colour to the scenery.This is a lovely time of year, with new growth sprouting all over, and buds forming on the rhododendrons and magnolias. Hopefully they will give as good a show as last summer, when they were spectacular.
In the conservatory, the pink passion flowers are a brilliant splash of colour, look up and see them cascading from the roof. The garden 
team have worked extremely hard to train the creepers along the roof trusses to show off their structure. On the north wall, the Chilean Bell Flower and the Canary Island Creeper are flowering in red and orange, their flowers are long lasting so are great value. The Camellia japonica is bursting with buds, a little bit of sunshine and they will open to beautiful pink blooms.