On Her Bike!

My very fit and adventurous sister-in-law arrived in Paris yesterday afternoon, having cycled all the way there from Crystal Palace!  

Leader of the pack! Pedalling calmly in...

She was with a group of about 150 - well done to all of them!

I think this lot were racing to keep up with her!

Mr U-t-B, his other sister, and his brother-in-law were there to greet the group as they pedalled into the shade of the Eiffel Tower. 

Jolly good stuff, Mary!

(It's not too late to hop over to her 'Just Giving' page, where she's raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Support, in memory of her Mum, my lovely mother-in-law, Nora, here with all her grandchildren.)

Woolbeding Gardens - or am I in heaven? (Part Two)

So, back to the lovely garden at Woolbeding!  

If you get 'The Telegraph' you may have seen an article about it in last Saturday's ''Gardening section.  My Mum saw this and phoned to let me know - it sent me into a panic to get tickets booked, as we'd already set yesterday as the date, but I hadn't got round to actually getting the tickets (limited availability, they say).  

It's probably just as well I got straight on the phone to finalise our arrangements, as the staff said it was by far the busiest day they'd had, probably down to the article in the paper.  Here's a little of what was written:

"It is a real gem. Not only does it contain a large plant collection in settings shaped, and continuing to be shaped, by some of the best contemporary designers and craftsmen, but it also offers a glimpse into country life of the most luscious and rarefied kind." 

Stephen Lacey Woolbeding Gardens, West Sussex

Oh yes!

Glorious stonework...

Beautifully framed views...

Quirky touches...

Hidden statuary...

A kitchen garden to die for...

Walled gardens, each with a character of its own...

A beautiful Italian fountain...

(Rear view to protect his modesty!)

Yet more plants that look familiar, yet in shades I'd not seen before...

Topiary and wisteria...

A temple to commemorate a tree...

The largest tulip tree in Europe stood here till the Great Storm of 1987. 

A giant wine-glass sculpture where a cedar of Lebanon  once stood...

Not sure about this one, but only a home of the most rarefied sort could boast such a work of art!

Wide lawns and somewhere to mess around with a croquet stick...

More beautiful places to perch...

Leaving the walled gardens behind, you pass the church, All Hallows, and cross a wide lawn, then through a gate to take you beyond the ha-ha.

Across a field, sheep and cows grazing nearby...

And down to the ruined abbey...

This less-formal part of the garden felt to me like a mini-Stourhead Gardens.  Once again I felt I was walking a path worn by my 18th century counterparts.

The Chinese Bridge...

Shady paths and steps to tempt you down...

A hut for a hermit...

The prettiest gothic pavillion overlooking a waterfall...

Ferns aplenty dipping their fronds in the cooling water...

An elephant in a jungly-nook...
(Oh, yes! All country homes should have one!)

A bubbling oasis, surrounded by statues representing the four seasons...

Meandering paths through the greenery, the roar of the waterfall in your ears...

Neptune, in his cave, draped in a cloak of shimmering shells...

 Leaves big enough to shelter beneath...

In fact, all of this is quite new, begun in the late 1990s and partly designed by Julian and Isabel Bannerman of Highgove Gardens fame!


 I think I'd like to live in the hermit's hut a few days and savour it all a little longer!

Thank you for bearing with me with these long posts - hope you enjoyed them!


What do you think of the new look?


(I feel like I've had a makeover myself - someone said they almost didn't recognise me!)

Woolbeding Gardens - or am I in heaven? (Part One)

Today I have been on a little jaunt, for which I must thank Vanessa Feltz!

No - she isn't a personal friend, but one morning in April I was awake ridiculously early and listening to her Radio 2 programme. I heard her talk about a garden that was newly open to the public.  As it was just before my Mum's birthday and is situated not too far from her house (or mine) I thought this would make a nice birthday treat.

So it was that this beautiful sunny morning, I headed down the A325 to Petersfield, where I picked my parents up, then headed off again.  Our destination, just outside Midhurst, was Woolbeding Garden, the former home of the late Sir Simon Sainsbury.  Between 1973 and his death in 2006, Sir Simon and his partner, Stewart Grimshaw, created the beautiful 26 acre garden that you can now explore on Thursdays and Fridays during the better seasons of the year.  It is well worth the visit! 

Armed with my new camera, I took oodles of photographs (in fact I kept filling up the memory card and having to delete the less good shots!) Here is a taste of the delights to be found.

Wide borders filled with a huge variety of shrubs and perennials...

Architectural features...

Shady nooks...

Places you'd like to imagine were your own...

Yet more wide, wide borders...

Beautiful topiary and amazing espaliered fruit trees...

Every colour under the sun...

Quiet places to sit and contemplate, surrounded by fragrant plants and the buzz of bees...

A very desirable swimming pool...

Beautiful benches...

Surprising, fruit-laden trees...

And a botanist's dream of plants and flowers...

You'd think I'd Photoshopped this to make it green, but that's how it was!

More tomorrow!