Tales from the Sea Garden

Tales from The Sea Garden

Email me: theseagarden@btinternet.com

Sunday 16 March 2014

A Cornish Garden


I went up to the antiques fair at Shepton Mallet this weekend and had a wonderful time rummaging through fabric and lace and buttons, and admiring the variety of unusual and beautiful items on offer......it never fails to inspire! Also it's lovely to meet up again with the generous and hardworking people who trade there; special mention to Sue, Alan, Ken and John. I was thoroughly exhausted though by the end of Saturday, so decided to head home on Sunday morning, stopping off en route to visit Lanhydrock, one of the great Cornish houses and gardens. I usually park at Respryn Bridge, and walk up to the house along the river and through the woods.......

The banks were dotted with daffodils. The London to Paddington mainline runs right alongside the river just at this point....


Once in the woods the evidence of the winter storms was all too clear; I counted eight huge trees down across my path alone.






Primroses are my favourite spring flower, and here at Lanhydrock they grow in amongst the mosses and the tree roots in the most romantic way....



Lanhydrock has an historically correct formal garden at the front, but for me the natural setting of the woodland banks is far more beautiful.



Cornish gardens are justly famed for their collections of rhododendrons, azaleas, magnolias and camellias. Many of the specimens were collected as seed by the great Victorian plant hunters who journeyed to the Far East in search of rare and beautiful blooms. The mild and damp winters of the Cornish climate are perfectly suited to these native species of China and the Himalayas. Some of the trees are already in full flower, others still only in tight bud. Over the next couple of weeks the gardens of Cornwall will be at the height of their springtime glory.





Sweet-scented Daphne...


Magnificent magnolia!





Azaleas...



Huge rhododendrons!

At the back of the higher garden is this sweet little thatched summerhouse...




Delicate blowsy blooms and smooth glossy leaves of the camellias....







Fallen petals amongst the bluebell leaves...


and along the path...




Doesn't this look like a delicious puffy marshmallow! So peachy!





In the deep leaf litter the bluebells are pushing through all over...I reckon they will be out in time for Easter....
Hope you have caught some of the balmy sunny weather over the last few days, so welcome after all that wind and rain; we deserve it! x x x

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos of a beautiful place - thank you! All I could think of was Daphne du Maurier's Manderley and the red rhododendrons.
    Mary

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  2. You took some beautiful pictures...really gorgeous! It sounds like you had a wonderful weekend.

    Gigi @ Old World Patina

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  3. This is just breathtakingly beautiful. I have never seen anything like it. I wish I lived near such beauty.

    Your blog is my favorite. So thank you for your quiet, gentle posts.

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  4. Llanhydrock is my all time favourite NT property - so beautiful and the grounds magical. Wonderful photos - the bluebells when out are spectacular - a sea of blue. Thankyou for such a lovely post, makes me want to drive straight there this morning!

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  5. My dear Christine, you leave in a fairytale place !!
    Cornish gardens are so stunning, already in full blooming, your photographs are really gorgeous, the flowers of Camellia, Rhododendrons, Magnolia they're famous for are so wonderful, and the summerhouse hidden by this sea of flowers, so pretty and sweet !
    Spring is coming in Italy too, our hearts are enjoying the first sunny days after a very rainy Winter !
    Wishing you a sunny week my friend, I heartily thank you for such beauty <3 xox
    Daniela

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  6. lovely - the details you capture are so delicious and inspiring. thank you!

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  7. a lovely pretty spring gaden very nice

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  8. Beautiful photography Christine! Everything is growing so far ahead in your area...even though I'm in the SW, I'm yet to see the magnolia and rhododendrons in flower...

    I visited the antique fair on the Sunday...Glad Alan still had some treasures left! ;-)) I bought quite well from him :)

    Enjoy your finds,
    Niki x

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  9. Gorgeous pictures, Christine. And I do believe I have visited this place years and years ago on holiday, so it's nice to see it all again in its Spring glory! xCathy

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