Tag: colours

Pembrokeshire coast and gardens – part 3 – Cardigan

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 19, 2019

We made our way to the coastal town of Cardigan a short drive from where we were staying for our Pembrokeshire holiday, mainly to visit the castle. In fact we found the town itself to be a very interesting place as well as the castle.

There was so much colour in the town’s main streets, with houses and businesses painted in all sorts of shades.

We found Cardigan to be a quirky little town which was a most enjoyable place to wander around. The castle would be our next port of call.

Tags architecture, Cardigan, colours, townscape, townscapes, Wales

colours garden design garden photography gardening

Simply Beautiful -10

Sometimes two plants flower side by side and enhance each other so much. The whole is far greater than the sum of the parts.

Complementary colours blue and yellow present great partnerships. A blue Anemone blanda teamed up with a native Primrose stops me in my tracks every day as I wander along the grass path by the Spring Garden, they are simply perfect together.

They mingle happily with old garden tool bits we dug out of the ground when we first developed our garden.

Tags anemone blanda, anemones, colour, colour combinations, colours, complementary colours, March, March garden, primroses, spring, spring flowers

autumn colours colours garden photography gardening ornamental trees and shrubs trees Uncategorized

The Leaf

A few days ago as I was on my way down the ramp into the back garden I was met by a leaf on its way in.

I knew immediately from which tree it had come – a Cotoneaster in the side garden in the Freda Border. It had traveled a fair distance for such a little fella! It shows how well you get to know the plants in your garden when you can recognise exactly which tree a single leaf comes from. We have a dozen or so different Cotoneasters gracing our patch but this little leaf told me exactly which one it came from. Its shape, its colours, its textures all provide clues.

The leaf was still showing off its autumn colours, proud in shades of yellow and orange with a touch of green as a reminder of the summer long gone. Some trees keep hold of their old leaves until a new one pops along to push it off its branch. Our Cotoneaster had done just that to our leaf.

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When turned over the leaf took on a new look, slightly greyed with the look of being seen through tissue paper. Each colour subdued and more subtle! It curled upwards which made it create shadows shaped like a new moon.

But we can’t leave this post without having a look at its mother tree. Its leaves a mixture of fresh green and faded colours of autumn. It looks especially colouful against a blue wintery sky.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, autumn leaves, changing colours, colour, colours, cotoneasters, leaves

colours light light quality

December Sunrise

What a delightful way to wake up! We woke to this most beautiful sunrise possible today and watched as the colours got richer and the whole sky brighter. Then we watched as it cooled down, the colours disappearing and the sky becomeing a typical cold December morning sky.

Tags changing colours, colours, mornings, sky, sunrise

architecture buildings colours garden buildings gardens gardens open to the public Italian style gardens Wales woodland woodlands

Portmeiron – the work of an eccentric.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 4, 2014
5 Comments on Portmeiron – the work of an eccentric.

We always enjoy spending the day at this crazy, quirky and totally exuberant “garden” on the Welsh coast near Portmadoc. Portmeiron is a village and gardens created by the eccentric Clough William-Ellis who bought the site in 1925 and then spent the following 50 years developing it into what we can visit and enjoy today.

The village is a collection of buildings reminiscent of an Italianate style. Every wall is brightly painted in an array of extravagant colours. Some are hotels or holiday cottages, others restaurants and cafes while others are shops and galleries. It is a busy little place sitting on a strip of land below the Lleyn Penninsula and it fits snuggly between the beach and a wooded slope.

In between the collection of crazy buildings a team of gardeners work hard to maintain patches of colourful gardens. The soil is both shallow and full of stones and the land is on a steep slope so gardening here is a tough challenge. So come through the towering gateway and wander around with us.

Although the Italianate style of the buildings that fascinates at first glance after a while the interesting juxtaposition of colours begins to catch the eye. Colours that you would not think of putting together when choosing paint for your home actually work beautifully.

Although the bright colours dominate every scene once your eyes and mind adjust to them interesting details come to the fore, such as these bright blue ironwork, a relief sculpture alongside a ring, classical figures, the beauty of this stone archway and the vintage petrol pump.

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We took a break from the colourful conglomeration of buildings and ambled along through the wooded slopes above the village itself. Here we discovered ancient trees native and cultivated and an atmosphere of peace, with restful greens and relative silence, broken only by the calls and song of birds.

We followed the woodland path until we found ourselves close to the cliff tops and followed it down towards the shore, where the buildings began again. This time they had a maritime twist to their architecture with white and blue colours dominating.

As the road way climbed upwards we returned to the brightly coloured buildings of the village.

We were fascinated by the interest of some visitors in particular buildings which it appears were featured in a TV series from the 1960’s, The Prisoner, which still has a strong cult following. It adds yet another layer of interest to this utterly fascinating “one-off” place.

Tags architecture, archways, Clough William-Ellis, coastal gardens, colour, colours, gardens, North Wales, Portmeirion, woodland, woodland walks, woodlands

architecture buildings colours landscapes photography the sea the seaside

Pier and Promenade – a day at the seaside.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 18, 2013
4 Comments on Pier and Promenade – a day at the seaside.

We both love the sea and we both love wandering along the promenade and walking out to sea along a pier. So what could be a better place to visit on Valentines Day than Llandudno with its promenade and its pier?

14th February – sunshine and blue skies – well, that makes a change! Share our day at the sea in North Wales with words by Jude and photos by me.

Along the pier.

All blue and white.

Except in the fairground rides which glow with colour even though they are hibernating for the winter.

The outdoor cafe seating area hibernates too, but the indoor version provides a welcome respite from the chilly far point of the pier. The effects of the biting wind are done away with. Noses are blown, tears are wiped away as coffees and doughnuts are relished. A few of the cute little stalls remain open whatever the weather, selling typical seaside wares.

Freedom and wide open spaces

Big skies

Freedom from the rain

Sheer pleasure at feeling the power of the sun return

Children laughing, enjoying being outside

Their parents smile at the joy of simple pleasures

Sitting by the sea, listening to waves lapping the shore

Watching patterns of sunlight playing on distant headlands.

The wide promenade gives space for aimless wanderings, for children to ride scooters and bikes, and for us all to admire the architecture of the seafront of hotels. We enjoyed our day at the seaside and are hoping the sea air will do us good!

Enjoy my gallery of some of my other photographs of our day in Llandudno.

Tags colours, North Wales, piers, the sea, the seaside, Wales

autumn colours garden photography gardening grasses ornamental trees and shrubs photography trees

Leaves

Just for a change we have no words just photographs to enjoy. A few sneak in near the end though!

If only you could smell the leaves below! They are from the tree called Cercidyphilum and they smell so sweet. I think they smell of toffee apples, Jude thinks they smell of candyfloss while others think the scents reminiscent of brittle toffee, burnt sugar, in fact anything sweet and sticky!

The most underrated plants for autum leaf colour must be the grasses. They very rarely get a mention in relation to autumn colour, so let’s put it right.