Well I am writing this with my PC perched on my lap staring out at a winter wonderland which some 3 weeks ago was my garden . It is hard to imagine right now that it will ever re-emerge!
Certainly this snow and the icy temperatures will have taken their toll and present new challenges when it loosens its grip!!!!
So I confess that this month’s garden comes from good memories rather than a recent visit!!!
So my friends my “must see” once weather conditions allow is The Winter Garden at Anglesey Abbey created some 30 years ago around about the time of our last truly “icy grip”!
My enduring memory of my visit is walking along the meandering path that flows through this comparatively modest space(1 acre) staring in wonder at the amazingly intense colours produced at such a mean time of year in the plant world!. It was almost as if the plants were giving off heat!
You could if you wanted to be unkind and describe the planting as a little dated, Yew,Leyland cypress Viburnam, Daphne Euonymus ,Ericas and Conifers might be considered a blast from the past and seriously unsexy today but mixed with an amazing selection of Cornus the planting simply glows and could never fail to excite!
Towards the end of the walk are the famous Betula under planted with Bergenia and I defy anyone not to be impressed by these! Oh yes and stop to “sniff” as there is perfume to be had too! So I say there is no such thing as dated planting only planting that does or doesn’t work and this is definitely the ethos adopted by the OCGD
Check opening times and try to go on a sunny day so that the Cornus and Bergenia in particular are illuminated by the low slanting sunlight to make the best of those backlit photo opportunities and how could you resist the ubiquitous shot of the white stemmed birch and those fiery Bergenia leaves!!
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