Snowdrops at East Lambrook Manor

Tags

East Lambrook, East Lambrook Manor, hellebore, silver birch, Snowdrop

With two friends, each of them a keen member of the Royal Horticultural Society, I visited East Lambrook Manor gardens this Wednesday. This was my third visit, but my first at this time of year. They are currently holding their snowdrop festival. Here are some of the photos I (with one obvious exception) took.

The snowdrops were richly enhanced by other plants, particularly hellebores.

Top left is a small corner of plant sales.

The weather forecast had been indifferent. The actual was brilliant sunshine, which made these silver birches glow.

Yours Truly and Gill

Gill and Daphne as we move into the plant sales area. Every variety was labelled in this bed, and the varieties could be bought for between £3.50 – and £20!

Having kept our purses firmly unopened, we moved on to the rest of Margery Fish‘s wonderful cottage garden.

There will be further visits…

Snowdrop garden

Tags

Blackdown Hills, Edwin Lutyens, Gertrude Jekyll, Hestercombe, Higher Yarde Farm, NSPCC, Quantocks, Snowdrop, Somerset Wildlife Trust, Staplegrove, Taunton

Snowdrop garden.  For two days, Friday and Saturday, the owners of Higher Yarde Farm, Staplegrove, near Taunton, are opening their wonderful early spring garden to visitors, in support of the Somerset Wildlife Trust.  Last weekend they did the same for the NSPCC.

There had been many visitors before me, despite a typical temperature of around 2°C, but as the last to arrive I had the large garden to myself, and almost missed the tea and cake on offer at the end.   I wondered whether the delightful building I had seen in the grounds was a holiday let, and learned that it was.  If I lived further away, I would be very tempted to use this as a base to explore the Quantock Hills and the Blackdown Hills, not to mention the wonderful Edwardian Hestercombe Gardens by Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll just a few miles away.

I’d never seen so many snowdrops in one place before, but just as enjoyable were all the other signs of spring on its way, in this garden clearly designed not only to please the human eye, but to be as friendly as possible to wildlife.AA little bridge soon tempts you off to the right……towards a pond.Onward to some glades and woodland.

 

The sun came out for a few minutes

I think this may be a hedgehog shelter

Then another bridge leads you on towards the house, and tea and cake (so much choice).This is the converted barn holiday let.

 

And back down the snowdrop-lined drive.

I have a third outdoor visit for this week tomorrow…