This past weekend was a weekend National Trust Flowers. I have a bit of a sore foot and now am in the throngs of another cold. As such we decided to take it easy and spend some time enjoying the flora.
Saturday Adventures
Trying to be a bit adult and make things easier around the garden for when we’re on our travels we decided that we would get a bit of gardening done before heading out on our adventures. Having had our garden for 10 years, we are learning that some things really do need regular maintenance. Things like the lawn and hedge are quicker and much easier when kept in check. So this year we have decided to keep on top of things, invest in an irrigation system and make the garden as easy maintenance as possible. Which, of course, gives me more time to plan nice stuff like additional plants and features!
Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten to take pictures of the garden in the sunshine, so you’ll have to enjoy it thorough the rain-soaked window from this morning instead…
Hare Hill
One of the best ways that I have found to make sure that I don’t overdo things on a sore foot or knee is to spend sometime at National Trust properties. The other is to wear what we like to refer to as ‘civvies’ (our regular clothes and shoes, despite the fact that we always wear hiking trainers anyway) so that it slows us down somewhat. It usually works….
Anyway, National trust properties have formal gardens, houses to explore and much of the outside areas have some hard standing which makes it a little less harsh on the joint. So with this theory in mind we took a mini road trip over to Hare Hill in Alderley Edge.
It seems that according to my photos, I was certainly all about the flowers on this visit! Oh well, I guess that means I have to go back to record for a proper post about Hare Hill (oh how terrible!)
Those of you who know me well, know that I’m not much of a pink person (despite the fact that I wear the colour daily and my garden is almost all pink at times!) but the Rhododendrons and Azaleas are absolutely stunning. Pink or not, I love them!
Slowing down
Visiting Hare Hill certainly proved that given beautiful things to look at and admire can certainly slow me down. The garden at Hare Hill is by no means huge, but it is perfect for a relaxed stroll. I had barely taken a photograph of anything other than bright blooms before we arrived at the walled garden (where I remembered that I was supposed to be documenting the visit for the blog too! Whoops!)
The walled garden is glorious all year round because of the warmth contained by the surrounding. I love visiting the Hare Hill walled garden because it is a good size, but feels as though some of the plants are attainable in my own garden so I spend a lot of the time noting down names so that I can find somewhere for them in our garden at home.
On a side note, it is a great place for a picnic, to relax and let the kids play as there are giant games in the garden to enjoy and it is a real sun trap!
The sun trap of a walled garden
The borders in the walled garden are simply gorgeous – especially with the amount of yellow they have in them (said with a hint of jealousy!) I have a long list of plants now that I need to research for our garden but in the meantime I’ll enjoy my pictures of the flowers here.
The curious incident of the broccoli-esque plant
On the note of flowers, can any of you help me to identify this guy? I posted on Instagram with no responses. It looks a bit lie broccoli, but I know it isn’t! I’m curious as to how they flower and what will come of the mass of buds. There is no prize other than my undying gratitude if you can post the answer in the comments and help me on my quest to learn more about plants! …this plant in particular.
And before this turns into a complete plant identification post, let’s move forwards!
Into Sunday
Sunday began on a similar theme of getting some gardening done before our weekend of National Trust flowers continued and it has been well worth it too. …and I have found a picture in the sunshine too!
We decided to keep it local as the work had taken a bit more time than expected so we opted to head to near the airport to Quarry Bank Mill. (check out our September trip here) Yes, we would have loved to have vanished onto a far-flung (or Ireland would have been great) adventure, but we sensibly stuck with a local National Trust again.
The Garden
The garden has recently undergone some rather large renovations including rebuilding the hot-house at the top garden. The flowers have been so fantastically arranged and were in such blooming glory in the sunshine when we arrived there.
Just look at the tulip display! The black ones were just so incredibly velvety!
No words, just look!
Up to the top
The garden is designed with numerous ways for you to meander your way up to the top garden. We took a round about way up taking in the views, taking a moment or two to have a brew from the flask on one of the many benches and to simply enjoy the weather. We really have been having a proper Spring this year which is why we have such perfect spring plants all at once.
After a rather sweltering wander around the hot-house we decided that we would begin the slow walk around the new area near the shop and head around and back to the car. We were impressed that we were able to hit our step count, walk slowly and rest my foot – this itself is a feat for us!
It really was a perfect spring weekend for soaking up some of the low sun while checking out all the stunning flowers that bring the world back to life in the year. Spring is definitely one four favourite seasons – even if a lot of the flowers are pink!
If you haven’t yet, I would urge you to make some time this weekend to take an adventure around one of the National Trust gardens. Not only do they all seem to have the most amazing spring borders, but you’ll be helping to protect some of the best places around the UK!
So there you have it, my weekend of National Trust flowers! For now I am going to sit in the moment of my flower memories and start to plan more for the coming weekend.
Enjoy the sun and check out the spring flowers before they go!
Have you been to one of the National Trust garden lately?
If so, which did you visit and were they in abundance of spring colour too? If not, which is your favourite spring flower?
Let me know in the comments 🙂