Lower Hope a little gem

Set in the Herefordshire countryside this garden is simply full of interest containing, as it does, herbaceous borders, rose walks and gardens, laburnum tunnel, Mediterranean garden, Italian garden, Japanese garden, bog gardens. Lime tree walk, lake landscaped with wild flowers, streams, ponds conservatories and large glasshouse created around a converted oast house.

a beautiful 'shorts' day

and as if that were not enough the garden was sprinkled with wonderful sculptures

Westbury Court Garden

This was the National Trusts first major garden restoration project and is one of Britain's best examples of a formal Dutch water garden. First established in the time of William and Mary - laid out between 1696 and 1715. In the C18 many similar gardens were destroyed by Capability Browns English Landscape movement but Westbury Court survived.

Whilst autumn creeps slowly round the corner there is still plenty of colour, plants and veg in the gardens.

Also of interest -

Wild bees hiving inside a tree

and an oak tree at least 400 year old

Super Moon Super Eclipse

super moon arrives over Howard Street

Full Lunar Eclipse

The Birthday Continues ...

At the end of a week that saw Marilyn's birthday, together again with Marion, we all went out and celebrated...

 ... starting with a pre performance meal at the Bistro in Malvern Theatre:

... then on to Terrence Rattigan's 'Flair Path'

Next day, Sunday, was a fine and slightly autumnal day so Marilyn and I set off down a hither to untrodden walk round a section of the Severn Path and Sharpness Canal , a circular route round Riversmead Farm.

autumn colours abound

beats a 'Keep Out' sign :)

the Edward Elgar on a canal cruise
from Gloucester Docks

Sharpness tow path

a posing damsel

The hedge rows were laden with brambles n wild apples so should be OK for home made bramble jelly well into winter :-p

Old Colwall Garden

Another of the Malverns hidden gems. Old Colwall occupies a site that was owned by the Church until the Reformation. A ‘William de Oldecolewall' was identified as a tenant of the Bishop of Hereford in a record dating from 1250, and in 1354 an ‘Adam of Old Collewall’ held land here. The present house was built for William Brydges in 1704.

The garden contains elements that span this entire period. An enormous yew tree overlooks the garden from the south-west. in 1856 its girth was recorded as 25 feet. lt is the oldest tree in the garden. The walled gardens to the north of the house, with their unusual tricorn capping bricks, date largely from the early 1700s. The lower walls in front of the east elevation are the result of early 1800s

The yew walk, which forms the heart of the garden planted in the early 1700s. ln 1856 there was a record of the hedge being 180ft long, two and a half foot wide, and fourteen foot high. lt has grown considerably since then. The hedge is trimmed once a year, using a cherry-picker, and takes the best part of two weeks to complete.

  

There was still colour and variety in the garden though, like everywhere, turning autumnal.

Daisy chain

The Picton Garden  sits on the western slopes of the Malvern Hills. Laid out by Paul Picton in the 1980's it has featured on Gardners World. As well as a variety of planting Picton contains the National Plant Collection of over 400 varieties of Michaelmas Daisy.

the garden was awash with colour from late flowering blooms

and the garden walks led you to discover a number of hidden artefacts

Serles House and the Secret Garden

Alan Titchmarsh described this amusingly creative and bizarre house and garden as ‘one of the best 10 private gardens in Britain’. The ingenious use of unusual plants complements the imaginative treasure trove of house and garden objects d’art. A feeling of a by gone age accompanies your tour as you step into a world of whimsical fantasy that is theatrical and unique.

This seemingly traditional semi is marked out by a large NGS flag in the front garden. You enter through the house that is a cornucopia of collected artefacts, quirky interior design and filled with the music of Scott Joplin provided by the pianist on the upright.

Through into the garden room containing an amazing ginger lilly:

then into the garden itself with its various crooks and nannies 

its various oddities

and glorious planting

finishing with the traditional tea n cake in a luxuriously decorated garden shed :)