To a snowdrop

What is it about the snowdrop that so excites the gardener, probably the fact that it flowers in the depth of winter and yet is so delicate and beautiful a flower that you just prize it for its presence. When I moved to my current house it was the flower that I was most excited to see poking out of the ground that first winter, I'd never had any of my own before! I don't know what variety it is but it seems to like where it is as its spreading.

They are gaining some notoriety now for some of the mania around the different cultivars which maybe to the untrained eye can be different to tell apart. It seems that certain features get people very excited, such as those with some yellow rather than green at the top of the flower and green tips. I can certainly see the attraction and would like to know more. A phenonomenum has been spawned of Galanthophilia, but this is not a new term as I first thought it was, E.A.Bowles (1865-1954) the gardener and writer was said to have coined the term when writing to a fellow snowdrop admirer. Snowdrops do tend to capture the imagination of the media and there has been much in the news recently due to the record bidding wars for rare bulbs. Last year Thompson & Morgan, the seed company, paid £725 for Galanthus woronowii ‘Elizabeth Harrison’. This has a striking golden yellow ovary and yellow markings on the petals. The previous record was £360 for a single rare bulb of Galanthus ‘Green Tear’. Just thought I would have a quick look on ebay and you can snap up a bulb of  Galanthus 'Green Tear' for a bargain price of £227.22 though it ends in 22 minutes so be quick*.

Snowdrops are a favourite topic for garden bloggers at the moment and who can blame them there are not many plants to highlight at this time of year. Anyway every year I say I'm going to visit a snowdrop garden and every year so far the time has passed and I've missed out but this year I had the opportunity to visit Hodsock Priory, near Retford. What a treat on a most glorious sunny day and its certainly popular amongst visitors who flocked there in their thousands to view this humble flower.

Here they really gear the whole visitor experience to the snowdrop, with themed events, guided walks but there is also a food and drink fairs and a cafe. Plus importantly a plant sale so you can buy some of the plants that you see in the garden. Though it was busy you could escape from the crowds if you got there early and headed for the woods.

A carpet of snowdrops there for all to see, snuggled up in a duvet of beech leaves, you have to be quick to take photos and avoid taking shots of people scrabbling on the ground taking closeups! Never seen so many bottoms in the air! This garden was more about the mass of snowdrops rather than individual varieties and specific cultivars, there were relatively few labels on plants which I quite liked as sometimes they can be too intrusive and take away from the actual beauty of a garden. So its not a snowdrop garden for the real cultivar enthusiasts but maybe I just didn't see all the different varieties.
There is an open-air cafe in the glade when you can get a good cup of tea and a cake and sit round a bonfire to keep warm. It was a cold day but was a clear blue sky and sunshine and gave me a much needed boost.
Moving on from the woodland and you head to the more formal garden which has some amazing winter flowers.

Above is the Fan lawn where they also have events in the summer like theatre productions, all garden now seem to have to diversify to keep going.
It was also a good time to see that other highly prized winter flower, the aconite.

A stunning Witch Hazel.

 Hellebores and Irises.

Cyclamen and snowflake.

 A huge Garrya ellipta, with long long tassels next to a row of sweet smelling Christmas box, Sarcococca confusa.

A lovely specimen tree of Parrotia persica (Persian Ironwood) with dark red Witch Hazel like flowers on the bare stems.

The whole garden was a delight from start to finish and I think it is developing all the time. It will be interesting to visit at another time of year and see how its looks as a garden. I think the snowdrops are followed by bluebells later in the year.

This part of the world is actually where my mums family are from and all my brother and sisters have really strong memories of visiting my mums sister, my Aunty Lily (here is a fact about my mums sisters they are all names after flowers, Daisy (my mum), Lily, Iris and Violet. How great is that, its no wonder that I'm mad about plants and gardening, its in my genes). Aunty Lily lived near a farm and had a gorgeous garden, had chickens even a goat at one time and I have oh so many happy memories of visiting her and my Uncle Wilf. So while I was here I went to see her old house, sadly they are no longer with us, but it didn't look the same, though it was good to reminisce. Lily is buried at Babworth Church so I went to visit her grave is in a corner plot which backs onto fields almost overlooking where she used to live so a lovely spot.
The churchyard itself was full of snowdrops and in a few weeks time it will be a mass of daffodils.

Finally, William Wordsworth - To a snowdrop.

Lone flower, hemmed in with snows and white as they

But hardier far, once more I see thee bend

Thy forehead, as if fearful to offend,

Like an unbidden guest. Though day by day,

Storms, sallying from the mountain-tops, waylay

The rising sun, and on the plains descend;

Yet art thou welcome, welcome as a friend

Whose zeal outruns his promise! Blue-eyed May

Shall soon behold this border thickly set

With bright jonquils, their odours lavishing

On the soft west-wind and his frolic peers;

Nor will I then thy modest grace forget,

Chaste Snowdrop, venturous harbinger of Spring,

And pensive monitor of fleeting years!

* Actually I took so long writing the post that the sale finished, the bulb went for £330.01!

A tour of....Abbotsbury Subtropical gardens

Visiting these gardens on a slightly blustery day of sunshine and showers at the end of September made me realise that I always do my garden visiting out of the traditional peak garden season. I get too busy in my garden and the allotment in the summer and the weather factor doesn't help, when we have a summer like this one you feel if you get a sunny day you have to make the most of it and spend it weeding and sowing. But I guess the mark of a good garden is one that looks good in all seasons. These gardens were voted the winner of the HHA/Christie's Garden of the Year for 2012 and it has received many plaudits from garden visitors including Alan Titchmarsh and it is much splashed around in the tourist brochures for the place that he once said that they are "one of the finest gardens I have ever visited". Well who am I to argue with the great one but I decided to have a look for myself.

The drive to the gardens from Lyme Regis is along some stunning coastal roads to the village of Abbotsbury which is less than a mile from the stunning Chesil Beach. Apparently this part of the Dorset has a higher than average record for sunshine hours (I'm moving here next week!), the gardens are also sheltered by the surrounding hills and the warming effect of the sea all combine to make this a haven for all sorts of less than hardy species and the gardens contain a rich variety of plants from all over the globe.

The walled gardens were once part of Abbotsbury castle, a large mansion built in the late 18th century but the house no longer exists, it burnt down in 1913, though the gardener's bothy is still there. You enter into the original walled garden but the garden now sprawls over 30 acres with many mature and rare trees. The extension outwards of the garden was instigated by the 3rd Earl of Ilchester, William Fox-Strangways. He was a foreign services diplomat and also a keen botanist and his many travels allowed him to introduce many new species from a wide range of countries. The shady, humid conditions of the surrounding woodlands were perfect for many of the species popular at the time from China and Japan. As with many gardens, there was some decline during the 1st and 2nd World Wars, some of the garden was used during the 2nd World War as an encampment. Restoration of the gardens were started in the 1960s and there was some severe storm damage in 1990 which forced further restoration and of course the gardens continue to be developed today.

 There are a number of areas of planting, like the Jungle Glade, Bamboo grove, Mediterranean planting, grasses border and Chilean border to name but a few.

I guess the star plant at this time of year in this garden is the Hydrangea and they seem to revel in the moist, warm conditions with some huge flower heads.

There are all sorts of flower heads and colours found in the planting on the Hydrangea walk.

But I think this was my favourite.

The Bamboo grove makes a lovely tunnel.

At the south of the garden is a walk up to the Jurassic Coast view point, which has been recently planted with two rows of Magnolia trees and leads to amazing views out to Chesil beach and to the west the cliffs and bays of this amazing coastline.

 

The stream running through the garden was planted with huge Gunnera, Tree ferns, hostas and Osmunda regalis. With a gorgeous Japanese-like red bridge.

The trees were only just starting to take on their autumn tints in this view within the garden of nearby St Catherine's chapel.

In the middle of the gardens is an amazing carved oak seat which was created by chainsaw artist Matthew Crabb on a 200 year old oak that came down in winds in 2009. It would have been a huge job trying to remove the tree so they came up with the great idea to make a feature out of it.

 The extreme rainfall and flooding earlier on this year also affected the garden, saturating the ground and on a windy night a Monterey cypress which was thought be planted in 1890 came down. They are planning to deal with it over the winter, it will be interesting to see what they do with this one. It just shows that gardens never stay still and you have to adapt to changes whether planned or unexpected.

One thing that struck me as I walked round were the different scales within the garden, from the massive....

To the dainty.

I have to say the tropical, jungle garden style is not the sort of planting that I'd like in my own garden but you really appreciate the exuberance of it all and it's perfect for this mild maritime climate. 
My favourite part of the garden was the Mediterranean Bank leading up to the Lily ponds.

 

This part of the garden was a suntrap and here on this sunny day you could feel the heat which had encouraged out the butterflies too.

And the lily ponds are a still tranquil area.

Walking up the top part of the garden is the Pavilion corner (which is licenced for Civil weddings).

There were some unusual plants which I'd never seen before, how about this Rostrincula sinensis.

As with many gardens there is a nursery attached where you can purchase some of the plants that you have seen on your travels round the world in the garden. In fact you can also buy them online. If you are round the area at this time of year then on certain nights the gardens are open till late and they light up the garden which sounds enchanting. So I'd recommend a visit to this botanical treasure trove in an amazing setting at any time of year and to finish it all off how about some fabulous cakes in the colonial tea house.