Stately homes and gardens

My oh is allergic so this is as
close as he gets to the donkey!

             

These dark red spires look fluffy
but they are anything but...

A useful quote by Kipling - I'll use that sometime!

Everybody needs plans and records, not just me!

2nd June, 2017

Looking for my favourites!
This half-term holiday has seen us travelling to a new (to us) National Trust property and revisiting an old favourite. We have been members for a long time and we continue to make full use of local and more distant homes and gardens. The gardens at both were a veritable feast to a keen Gardener and the flower fairy hunt meant our youngsters were taken round one property we have visited but not gone into the house, usually ending up at the farm instead.

To enter the walled garden...

At Melford Hall, there was a small formal garden with beautiful perennials, extravagant flag irises, and lovely hedging as well as croquet and a haha. Formerly visited by Beatrix Potter creator and illustrator there is a little exhibition of her sketches and paintings. My pictures seem to be hiding...

However, today was a return to Wimpole, which was restructured since our last visit and it was much easier to get about between the farm and adventure playpark and the enclosed gardens which were looking truly beautiful and abundant. I was able to see examples of even blousier peonies than our own, and heritage roses, and even I think the pink roses in our garden may be similar to Gertrude Jekyll cultivars at Wimpole.

Alliums and Californian poppies were in full show throughout as well as geums and sissinchrium.

There was even a delightfully decorated gardeners cottage with examples of diary entries of daily tasks and long ago images of what the estate might have looked.