Tag: Bodnant Garden

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Seasonal Visits to two very Different Gardens – Bodnant Gardens

Following on from our seasonal autumn visit to our smaller garden for 2019 we took a drive up to north Wales to wander around our larger garden, Bodnant Gardens. Join us as we enjoy the signs of the new season on its trees and shrubs.

Within the first ten minutes wandering we had discovered so many interesting plants and plant combinations. We were slowly making for the Winter Garden, one of our favourite parts of the garden. A first for us was a wall trained Gingko biloba which was really striking, as were the glossy indigo berries on this Dianella.

 

Of course The Winter Garden excels in its season but puts on a pretty good show in the autumn too.

 

From The Winter Garden we wandered through the open woodland towards the Acer Glade. All along the way trees were warming up the day with their hot coloured foliage and with some the added splash of colour provided by berries. I hope you enjoy my short gallery of photos below.

 

The woodland paths of gravel and sometimes grass led us to the predominately orange and red Acer Grove, which was busy with photographers and grandparents escorting their grandchildren picking up selections of their favourite leaves, natural jewels of the glade floor.

   

We left the Acer Grove and made towards the stream which we crossed by a wooden bridge and went upwards into the wooded slope of the dingle, so that we could wander along the many paths and look down into the dingle itself. We found more acers and other colourful deciduous shrubs below the giant conifers. Follow our journal be enjoying this gallery.

And so our day of wandering around the wonderful gardens at Bodnant came to an end, but as usual as we walked towards the gate we had a look at the Hot Garden alongside the stone wall. There is always something worth a second glance here whatever month we visit.

Perhaps one more visit to our other garden Wildegoose to go and if tempted another to Bodnant before the year is out!

 

 

 

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Early Spring in Bodnant Gardens – Part 2 – The Dingle and back to the hall

So here is Part 2 of the post concerning our visit to the National Trust’s Bodnant Hall Gardens. We will explore the Dingle and then make our way back to the nursery via a route taking us by the hall itself. In Part 1 we wandered as far as the end of the Yew Walk ready to drop down into the stream valley and follow the clear, fast-moving waters.

Another important flowering shrub that attracts thousands of visitors to Bodnant at this time of year is the Camellia, with its gaudy pink or white flowers and glossy evergreen foliage. I will admit it is not a favourite of mine but here is a small selection of those we wandered by. Someone likes the flowers enough to create a little piece of artwork with them for others to enjoy.

To continuing sharing our visit to Bodnant with you, I shall share a gallery of photos taken as we wandered around the area on two sides of the hall. Click on the first photo and then navigate using the right arrow.

Just before we left the garden we walked through the hot garden alongside a tall stone wall, a border we love in the late summer when it is at its best, but on this visit we found a few interesting plants. The strongest feature was the selection of Hyacinths in an exciting range of colours from creamy yellow to nearly black. These were joined by Tulips, Anemones, Bergenias and emerging fresh growth of Euphorbia griffithii.

 

We had a great day out exploring these wonderful gardens, full of atmosphere and such a wide variety of different areas developed in different ways. We will return for a follow up visit in the summer.

 

 

 

 

 

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Early Spring at Bodnant Garden – Part 1 – to the Dell

I promised a few reports on our planned visits to Bodnant Garden in North Wales so we are pleased to share our visit in early spring, a day with the most perfect weather possible to make our exploration a good one.

Warm, calm and blue skies! We stayed over nearby to make sure we had time to wander slowly around this large garden at a leisurely pace, the only way to appreciate a garden so full of interesting plants.

After parking up we soon spotted a bank of little blue bulbs which we thought were possibly Scilla. As we entered the garden itself we came across this informative and attractive sign prepared by the head gardener giving us ideas of what was looking good in the garden.

Our visit coincided with the height of the flowering seasons for Magnolias, Rhododendrons and Camellias as well as spring flowering bulbs and the earliest of perennials, so we were in for a colourful day’s exploration. Bodnant is a garden designed to present choices where paths fork and cross.

We made our way to the Winter Garden, one of our favourite parts of the garden, a place so full of ideas for anyone to use to add winter interest to their own patches.

     

We then found a gateway that took us into a field of daffodils, simple old cultivars, creating a peaceful place to wander slowly and take in the atmosphere of this special space.

We strolled through the field slowly and then made our way down to the top of the Dell. The gallery that follows shares this part of our time at Bodnant. In part 2 we shall wander along the dell and then back up the long slope to explore the areas around the hall.

 

 

 

 

 

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A quick visit to Bodnant Gardens – mid-May

Instead of my usual series of posts where we visit the same garden every month of the year, we have decided to look at two gardens one large and one small. This is because it is impossible to find another good garden that is open all year and easy to get to.

For the big garden we have chosen the National Trust’s Bodnant Garden in North Wales which we shall look at over the seasons and for the small garden we have chosen Wildgoose Garden and Nursery closer to home here in Shropshire which we shall visit each month during its open season.

To start this series I am going to look back at a visit we made to Bodnant back in May 2018 to give an idea of its beauty.

A final day out on our Anglesey holiday was to visit the gardens at Bodnant just slightly inland from the North Wales coast. It is a garden we have visited and enjoyed many times before and at all times of the year. The one strength of the garden is that is has so many different faces to be discovered and enjoyed.

In recent years a rectangular border alongside a tall stone wall has changed completely becoming a hot border, full of flowers and foliage the colours of fire. On a sunny day they really light up.

   

Directly opposite and in complete contrast is a formal area of low trimmed hedges holding together borders of tulips.

  

The Winter Garden at Bodnant is one of the best in the UK, and although superb in its special season, the winter, it is still an interesting garden in the summer.

  

The narrow gravel paths take us into the shady areas beneath mature deciduous trees. Bluebells added a blue mist to the rich green grassed areas.

What many visits make the journey to Bodnant for are the bright clashing colours of rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias. We however are not great fans of these acid loving bloomers, but here are a few shots for those who do.

An area of Bodnant gardens we have rarely reached over the years because of my mobility problems is the deep steep-sided valley with tall trees towering over a beautiful sparkling stream which meanders along its length. After recent surgery I can now manage to get down to this magical dingle. The magical atmosphere is created by the huge trees that tower above visitors who wander the gravel paths along the valley running close to a clear mountain stream, and on the banks beautiful bog and water loving plants grow happily. Primulas, hostas, ferns and Skunk Cabbage add colour and texture to the scene.

   

No doubt it won’t be long before this great garden is featured in another of my greenbenchramblings posts as we usually wander around its Winter Garden early in the year.

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Visiting Bodnant Gardens in Early September

We dropped off at Bodnant Gardens two thirds of the way along our journey to our holiday home on Anglesey, a garden we visit often as it is a solid favourite at all times of the year.

I hope you enjoy my photos below taken at Bodnant in early September.

          

We will without doubt return some time soon as we return to this wonderful garden several times every year to see it in each month’s glory.

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The Winter Garden at Bodnant Hall

We left home for a journey up towards Chester and then West along the North Wales coast after listening to the local weather forecast for our destination. It predicted a heavy snow storm passing through early morning and warnings were announced for closed roads and dangerous conditions. The weather was set to travel eastward and weaken, so we hoped we would meet it as it had weakened and arrive at our destination as it cleared.

We got it spot on as a couple of hours later we arrived at the northern tip of Snowdownia, at Bodnant Hall where we wanted the see the Winter Garden. We had explored it before in the summer and it looked good then. We vowed to return in its prime season to see if it lived up to its summer promises.

We were not to be disappointed in the slightest as it surpassed all expectations. It was simply breathtaking. Come with us as we explore along its winding paths.

We entered the garden by following a path cut into the hillside and then down a ramp where we discovered a raised wall with the sort of planting we expected to see in the Winter Garden itself. We also passed two plants with not so friendly foliage, a Colletia paradoxa and a Yucca, both well endowed with points and sharp edges.

    

The world-famous laburnum arch looked so different at this time of year, exposing its strong structure and the shapes of each trained Laburnum tree.

  

As we began to follow the meandering paths which implored us to explore every part of the garden, we spotted some beautifully shaped trees and shrubs pruned to expose their lower trunks and branches, sharing their special shapes with us. Conifers sometimes create amazing shapes without the need for the gardeners’ secateurs and loppers.

     

The paths at Bodnant have been designed and set out to let the visitor appreciate every bit of planting from close up and from a distance to get a variety of views to appreciate. They are beautifully positioned.

           

Snow isolates flowers in such a strange way. It means we see them without foliage just their colours emerging from whiteness. We are so used to viewing flowers against a predominantly green background.

   

The beauty of the Winter Garden at Bodnant that is unique where such gardens are concerned is the way it is designed to have overall strength as a whole design but each pairing of plants and each grouping is applicable to most home gardens. Around each corner the visitor can discover an idea easily transferable to their own patch. The design is best described as accessible. Pathways ensure visitors see as much as possible and each feature planting from at least two different viewpoints. Here is a selection of pics showing these paths.

    

 

Next time we visit Bodnant Gardens will probably be in the spring when it looks very different again.

 

 

 

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Bodnant Garden – an autumnal walk around a great garden.

In the first post about our day visit to the Bodnant Gardens not far inland from the coast of North Wales we looked at the special magical nature of the low November sunlight. But there was a lot more for us to enjoy as we explored in a different direction than we usually take as autumn repair work on the grass paths and lawns prevented us following where our footsteps normally tread. This of course paved the way for new discoveries and fresh views.

The plant that we got really excited about was this beautiful deciduous Euonymus dripping with a full crop of berries which in turn were dripping with fine droplets of rain. Euonymus alata “Compactus” bravely combines the darkest possible ruby red almost purple fruits from which burst bright tangerine orange seeds  and it looked wonderful. The younger berrying branches sported bright green coats in strong contrast to the older wood, coloured brown and strongly winged with corky ridges giving the whole bush an extravagant look. It also boasts fiery red foliage in the autumn and strangely its weakest point are the flowers which are small and a rather insignificant green in colour.

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This exciting shrub had a lot of competition where catching the eyes of the visitors was concerned.

We love making new discoveries and on this visit to Bodnant we came across some fruit on a shrub which we could not remember having ever seen before and had no idea what it could be, with its tiny acorn-like fruits in two shades of orange. It looked if it would appear a rather dull evergreen shrub for most of the year but it must have flowers at some time which I would guess would be white.

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Back to our explorations! So, moving away from the Winter Garden, Jude and I followed gravel tracks which crunched beneath our feet, the sounds of which softened only where we had carpets of fallen leaves to paddle through. We moved into more open areas where we could appreciate views of large specimen trees in the distance as well as beautifully textured and coloured perennials right under our noses.

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Trees in November show off their strong networks of boughs, and judicious pruning of the lower leaves by skilled garden staff add extra power.

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It wasn’t all foliage and tree trunk texture though, there were still late flowering perennials shining through contrasting strongly with the colours of autumn.

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Bodnant Garden – a magical place in North Wales

For my last post of 2016 I thought I would share a visit we made to one of our favourite gardens, Bodnant Gardens in North Wales. A great way to celebrate our garden visiting exploits in 2016 and to look forward to visiting many more wonderful UK gardens in 2017.

Bodnant Gardens, a National Trust Property in North Wales, is described as a “glorious garden nestling in the Snowdonia foothills of North Wales and one of the world’s most magical gardens. With its dramatic scenery, historic plant collections, Champion Trees and myriad horticultural styles, it will capture your heart and live in your memory.”

It is just possible for us to get there, enjoy a day wandering and then return on the same day. So this is a day trip we have made many times over the years in different months but never before in November. We were not sure exactly what to expect but our expectations were definitely high. We were not to be in for the slightest disappointment!

After a two hour drive we arrived as mist and drizzle did its best to hide the garden but after our usual half hour sit for a coffee and cake we were  pleased to see the beauty of the garden revealed as the autumn sunlight brought the garden to life before our eyes setting the scene for an afternoon of pure magic, which we will share with you in a couple of posts.

Firstly this post will be all about the special nature of the light and how it added extra magic to the scenes unfolding before us.

After showing our membership cards we left the reception and upon entering the garden itself we only managed a few steps before the special light stopped us in our tracks. A long border running alongside a tall stone wall was on fire with the rich colours of late perennial flowers and the red and orange leaves of shrubs. The overnight dew was still hanging on the grass and every droplet became a jewel.

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From the path running along the centre of the hot fiery bed we could look across towards the main garden where the light caught Acer foliage and wispy perennials.

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Individual flowers among this beauty, shone like jewels in a jeweller’s shop window display. Water droplets sat on the red blooms of this Fuschia and Salvia.

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We had plenty of choices of pathways to follow but the choice was an easy one – go where the colours shone the brightest – off in to the newly created Winter Garden beneath a halo or red glowing foliage.

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With so much colour and texture surrounding us it was hard to home in to see the special beauty only to be found by looking closely and deeply searching for the detail.

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Bodnant proved itself a most worthy contender for garden visiting late in the year and could well join the little group of special places we visit annually. In part two of my Bodnant posts we will share other parts of the garden with you, the places further afield than the Winter Garden.

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Are you sitting comfortably? Part 11 of a very occasional series.

Here we are back with a new selection of interesting and unusual garden seats, our 11th collection.

To start with I will share with you a selection of garden seats we discovered in the wonderful huge gardens at Bodnant, a National Trust Property in North Wales and then move on to another of their properties but this time much nearer home in the West Midlands, Hanbury Hall. All these seats were discovered within a week in November. We hope you enjoy the selection we have chosen for you.

Bodnant Garden

These three simple slate benches are beautifully placed matching their background of strata slate layers and the grey stone paving. They look very different whether they are wet or dry. They are pale greys when dry but much darker and glossier when wet. Their chunky design fits their place so well.

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Inside the garden we wandered through the new Winter Garden and down towards the dingle, a wooded steep valley with a stream running through it. All the seats were quite ordinary designs manufactured from wood, including one that is reminiscent of an Edwin Lutzen’s design, but they were made special by their placements either raised up, surrounded by harmonious plantings and all giving beautiful views across the garden. These view points allowed us to look at close up garden plantings, larger borders or even long views along the valley or over tree tops.

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These last two pics show seating deeper in wooded areas and illustrate how well seats sit in their environment when manufactured in the natural material of the place itself. Special secretive seating where birdsong shares the space with you.

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Hanbury Hall

Again the seats at Hanbury were often very simple and ordinaary in design but they are situated in very special places, special buildings, within special planting.

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So we have shared with you our selection of garden seats that we enjoyed in November. We hope you enjoyed sharing them with us. We enjoyed trying most of them out!