After a fortifying cup of tea in the tea rooms I headed out to explore the gardens at the castle. Walter Speed, who became head gardener in 1862 and continued working there for an impressive 58 years, is considered the creator of the grounds and gardens. In fact the gardens were renowned as one of the top three best gardens in Britain and Speed was given the prestigious Victoria Medal for Horticulture by Queen Victoria herself.
Plas Mawr is an Elizabethan town house in the centre of Conwy. Welsh for “Great Hall” it was built around 1576. Maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government, it is free for Cadw members and due to reciprocal arrangements members of English Heritage (like myself), otherwise it is £8.50 for an adult ticket.
On my most recent visit to Woodthorpe Grange Park I went to have a look around the Plant Shop and saw that the Tropical House was open. I haven’t been inside for probably at least a decade because it has had some very odd opening hours, but now I see they are keeping it open at the same time as the shop, so Monday-Sunday 10-4. There’s been a nursery (in the flower sense!) at Woodthorpe since the 1920s and the flower displays that adorn the city during the spring and summer and for the Britain in Bloom and other competitions in Nottingham are grown here; the shop sells off excess stock as well as locally produced gifts.
Not long ago I went for a walk around Woodthorpe Grange Park, which I’ve blogged about before. The park recently celebrated its centenary having been opened by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham on 1 June 1922. The weather was bright and sunny and did not at all feel like October, but some of the trees were wearing their autumn colours at least.
The Edwardian gardens at Lotherton Hall cover eight acres and were designed as a series of enclosed gardens by Mrs Gwendolen Gascoigne between 1893 and 1914. The Terrace Gardens near the house were planted with roses (we visited at the wrong time of year to see them in bloom) and are also the sight of this impressive bronze statue of Sho Haku, nicknamed the Peony Priest. He was a Japanese holy man known for his love of peonies.
Opened in 2007 the Garden of Surprises was influenced by the garden that William Cecil, the first owner of Burghley House, had created in his Hertfordshire home, Theobalds. It was common for Elizabethan gardens to have “tricks” such as mazes, statues, grottos, concealed water pipes to shoot out water etc. all of which can be found in this modern version.
The gardens at Canons Ashby present a lovely first impression of the estate. Edward Dryden, beginning in 1908, was largely responsible for the development of the gardens as it looks today. He wanted to create an organised landscape of geometric shapes.
St Mary’s Garden is a small public garden located next to the Garden Museum. It was created by Lambeth Borough Council in around 1932. It was originally part of the road which lead to the original Lambeth Bridge in 1862 which has since been replaced by a bridge further to the south.
I’ve walked by the Garden Museum a few times whilst in London and when I found myself with an afternoon free I decided it was the perfect time to visit. I was largely prompted by their temporary exhibit at the time – on until 19 June – called Wild & Cultivated: Fashioning the Rose.
On my last trip to London there was such glorious sunny weather that I decided to head to Holland Park which I last visited in 2018. I wanted to see if the blossoms were in bloom yet on the trees – they weren’t quite but there were lots of lovely colourful flowers.
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