In mid-June this summer we took off southwards for a long drive down the motorways for a mid-week break in Devon, taking in some visits to 3 gardens, RHS Rosemoor, Wildside and Yeo Valley Organic Garden. The weather forecast promised heavy rain!
Day one saw us breakfasting at the restaurant at the RHS garden Rosemoor, which we have visited a few times before.
There is so much to see at Rosemore that we never know where to start or which route way around the many acres to follow. The above rather beautiful map helped us in planning our route.
We made our way towards the woodland area passing some beautiful plants along the way such as this Cornus kousa and deeply coloured rose.
Just as we reached the woodland edge we were surprised to find this beautiful rustic building.
Behind the building a stone wall covered in plants acted as the boundary to the woodland.
We enjoyed wandering along the footpaths through the cool calm woodland, an antidote to the warm humidity outside.
In the woodlands we came across some sculptural pieces, starting with the wood carving of an acorn above, and still within the trees a bronze deer, a wooden cone and an owl carved into the trunk of a dead tree.
In the children’s woodland play area were large metal sculptures of insects and invertebrates.
We discovered other sculptures in wood and stone, the one stone piece being a balancing work.
It wasn’t long before we met the first of the themed gardens which we were looking forward to exploring as they had been developed since. we last visited. I will continue with these themed gardens in the next Rosemore post. As weather often seems to be at the forefront of gardeners’ minds I will look at the Cool Garden and the Hot Garden.
greenbenchramblings 