We visit Harlow Carr more than any other RHS garden as it is our favourite of the five gardens even though it is a fair distance to travel. Unfortunately this true of all the RHS gardens. Even though the RHS said they were going to find a garden to serve the Midlands, they eventually took on a site near Manchester which is definitely not in the Midlands!
Back in 2025 we made a journey northward for a mid-week break and of course a visit to RHS Harlow Carr was an essential.
Back to Harlow Carr! Even before entering the garden I am always drawn to have a look at the bike shelter opposite the entrance with its green roof and built in nest boxes and insect homes.
Once in we showed our membership cards and set off to the Harrogate Arms Cafe for some coffee and breakfast. This old hotel has been tastefully renovated and turned into a cafe. The planting in the borders by the entrance and around the outside seating areas is equally tasteful.
To get there we enjoyed areas of meadow planting and close cut grass dotted with daisies. Kinetic sculptures added even more interest to this area.
Moving on after an enjoyable coffee we wandered on towards the Sub Tropicana Garden which was full of a wide variety of interesting plants many of which we couldn’t grow in our garden. Here the garden acts like a walled garden providing protection to some of the more delicate specimens. Many hardy plants thrive here which have the character of sub tropical plants mostly due to their foliage.
In complete contrast to this sub tropical planting area we next moved on to exploring an area devoted to alpines. We enjoy this area and never visit Harlow Carr without spending time here. The glasshouse is stunning and so atmospheric but there is so much more around it.
Here are images of a few of the special plants in the glasshouse.
That is a good place to finish part one of our visit to Harlow Carr. In part two we move on to look at some interesting wilder borders, the stream side and meadow areas.
greenbenchramblings 