As we move towards the end of February it seems a good time to share with you a visit we made to a beautiful garden in the summer.
The gardens at East Bergholt Place, otherwise known as “The Place for Plants” was one of our chosen gardens to visit when we spent a few days down in Suffolk. It is situated in the Stour valley on the border between the counties of Suffolk and Essex. We had high expectations of the gardens as they are affiliated to the Royal Horticultural Society, usually a guarantee of a garden well worth a visit. The garden includes an arboretum and the National Collection of deciduous Euonymus, my favourite family of shrubs.
East Bergholt is a garden with a calm atmosphere full of peacefulness and contentment. Just to walk its grass paths seeking out specimen trees and shrubs makes the visitor feel calm.
Varieties of Cornus kousa with their showy bracts add patches of colour beneath the collection of unusual mature trees.
Cornus kousa “White Dusted”
Cornus kousa “Satomi” with its pink bracts.
Down in the valley bottom a string of small lakes provided good habitats for a collection of Hydrangeas which grew beneath a large specimen of the Wing Nut Tree, Pterocarya fraxinifolia, a member of the Walnut family, with its long green “catkins” growing up to 60cm long.
Wandering back towards the nursery and cafe we came across a lush valley with a stream winding its way through, its richly planted banks.
We always enjoy finding quality pieces of sculpture placed carefully and shown to their best advantage and this figure was situated close to the stream in the short-mown grass.
The brightest plant of all was this orange Tiger Lily, looking so fresh amongst the lush rich greens of the trees and shrubs.
I would like to finish off with a selection of photos illustrating the variety of plants beginning with a couple of interesting trees followed by other flowering plants found throughout the Place for Plants at East Bergholt.
An Aesculus in full flower,
Staphylea pinnata,
and Nyssa sylvatica “Wildfire”.
Definitely a place for plants!
greenbenchramblings 