Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Winterbourne House Gardens (Fleeting Visit again!) and a Rather Special Present







Family "chauffeuring" on Sunday to the Edgbaston area of Birmingham meant I had an hour to spare so a quick dash again over to the Arts and Crafts Winterbourne House and Gardens.




The botanic garden which covers seven acres was primarily designed by Margaret Nettlefold who took inspiration from the garden designer Gertrude Jekyll.

As you leave the Visitor Centre you walk straight into the Walled Garden.


I took a different route to previous visits this time as I wanted to visit the Winter Garden.




View from the Terrace at the rear of the house looking towards the Top Lawn and Lime Walk with the Lower Lawn Beyond.





The Winter Garden - with a lovely display of Snowdrops and the scent from the Daphne mezereum was just amazing.






Gorse in flower


I am not sure of the id of the plant in the photo below but it was very pretty and added a lovely touch of colour to the garden.




Ovid's Garden




Pergola


Herb Circle


I love Witch Hazel and there were several in flower in various parts of the garden that I visited. I would love to buy one for our garden - its a shame they are so expensive!




One of these days I'll go along to Winterbourne when I can spend a whole day there and then I'll finally visit the nature reserve - you can just make out the blue of Edgbaston Pool in the distance.


Lots of Hellebores in flower


Looking towards the Woodland Walk and Sandstone Rock Garden


Another Witch Hazel.



Sadly - it was time to leave so I returned via The Nut Walk - this contains many of the hazels originally planted in the Nettlefold's day.



I think this is Winter Honeysuckle - another plant I would like in our own garden.


Seedheads from around the Gardens








Green Man Pot

E gave me a rather special Christmas present. Knowing how much I love anything to do with the Green Man she commissioned a bespoke Green Man patio pot. It was a really lovely surprise and I was very touched. I was hoping to plant it with Winter Aconites but haven't been able to find any in local nurseries so I've planted it up with some winter flowering pansies. I plan to put different plants in it according to the season.





The pot was made by a very talented lady and you can see more of her work at www.muddypie.co.uk.
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14 comments:

  1. Rohrerbot11 February 2015 at 21:22

    It certainly seems like an early spring this year. At least it's not raining like it did 2 years ago

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  2. John11 February 2015 at 22:06

    Thank you for the walk Robin through your beautiful pictures. Oh and that pot with the green man? I love it ;)

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  3. Ragged Robin12 February 2015 at 00:25

    Chris Rohre - Hi Chris - gosh you remember the constant rain!!! Much drier this year thank goodness :)

    John Wooldridge - Thanks John - glad you liked the pot. Am totally in love with it myself :)

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  4. Anonymous12 February 2015 at 09:11

    That's a beautiful pot- clever old E. I found a new green man to add to my collection in winchester cathedral's gift shop recently. They are lovely things.

    Beautiful sunshine in your photos and all the plants look lovely.

    Tried the address to the website but it kept coming up with bad request and name not recognised?

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  5. Ragged Robin12 February 2015 at 11:14

    Countryside Tales - Thanks so much CT :) We're redecorating hall, stairs and landing at the moment and I am hoping to find a home for some of my Green Man items when its finished. Cathedrals and churches seem good places to go in search of such things - bought one at York. Really hoping to visit Tewkesbury Cathedral this year where they even have a Green Man trail!!! :)

    Strange about the website - it works on my desktop in google chrome. She is on facebook but I don't use it so am not sure how you would do a search.

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  6. Deb12 February 2015 at 11:40

    Lovely post, thanks for sharing.
    I love your Green Man pot too.

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  7. Margaret Birding For Pleasure12 February 2015 at 12:54

    I love it when you take us round lovely places like this. Looks like spring could be in the air. Wonderful post.Thanks. That is a magnificent present you were given.

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  8. Ragged Robin12 February 2015 at 15:25

    Deb - Many thanks - so glad you enjoyed the post and liked the Green Man pot :)

    Margaret Adamson - Thank you very much :) It did feel Spring-like Sunday and Monday but cold and gloomy since :) So pleased to see so many like my new pot :)

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  9. Anonymous12 February 2015 at 20:40

    Got it working now! My internet is being horribly slow at the mo so will have a proper look at it later x

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  10. Ragged Robin13 February 2015 at 00:13

    Countryside Tales - Oh good :) Thanks for letting me know. She is making a lovely pot with a dog on it at the moment and there is also a lovely owl one.

    Out internet can be awful at times, especially when lots of appliances are using it!, and this desktop plays up a lot too :(

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  11. The Quacks of Life14 February 2015 at 19:20

    nice looking garden and a lovely pot!

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  12. Ragged Robin14 February 2015 at 21:13

    Pete Duxon - Thanks Pete - glad you like the pot :) Gardens there are gorgeous - well worth a visit if you are ever in the area and the house is interesting too.

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  13. Rohrerbot1 March 2015 at 15:42

    I'm glad it wasn't too wet this year like that previous year! Yuck! Anyhow, more thinking....is that unknown plant a type of Rosemary?

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  14. Ragged Robin2 March 2015 at 10:40

    Chris Rohrer - Thanks Chris - thankfully nowhere near such a wet winter :) When I uploaded the photo I thought about Rosemary too - I think you may be right. We used to grow Rosemary in the garden and flowers were a different colour but the Winterbourne one could be a different variety. Thanks again :)

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