Being Inspired - June visit to the Botanic Gardens

I took some time to visit the Botanic Gardens over recent days, and, as you can see from the pictures, it really is looking great. Also, because I was with company, most viewing and photos are from a distance, a nice change for me and an opportunity to see the bigger view. 

On the way in to the botanics, we could see the rose garden, where many roses have reached their peak in terms of flowering, and are absolutely covered with blossom from head to toe. We sat on a bench in the rose garden and observed a large number of people walking around the area, taking photographs, sniffing flowers and pausing, like ourselves to enjoy the overall ambiance.

And then there was the alpine or rockery area. It's really looking well with the old Japanesse maples to the rear in full fresh leaf and the paths & beds brimming with colour and foliage texture. If you garden on drier soil, you do get a great sense of what a garden could look like. 

In contrast, the area down by one of the rivers, which is obviously a damper area, is teaming with plants suited to growing in such a space. Plants have large leaves, soft fleshy growth and a look of luxurious foliage. There really is quite a difference between the two areas.

A different area again to the west of the main entrance, over where there are beds of annuals, and beds that currently have young chrysanthemum and dahlia plants, in preparation for a late Summer and Autumn show. Along here they are growing a fine display of sweet-pea in individual colours on a very fine structure, constructed in wrought iron, showing a series of arches. I could do with one of these in my garden! There is also a series of hanging baskets adding to the overall effect. Very nice indeed.

As you walk up from the main entrance towards the glass house area, to your left you pass by a lawn area that has a series of beds. Each of these beds represent a family of plants, which can make for interesting reading, and look very well as you can see by the picture. 

At the main entrance, there is a great example of carpet bedding, which was very popular during Victorian times. 

There are few examples of it now, as it is so costly from a resources point of view, both in terms of person hours handing the plants and over-Wintering the plants too. 

There was also a fine display of cacti too.

The final picture shows the Summer bedding plants along the main avenue. It is a bed that has gear potential, but does need time before it comes into its own. 




It'll be interesting to see it in a month, as I expect it will be full of foliage and colour, but for now, we'll have to wait and enjoy the other aspects of the gardens.


We also stopped by the veg garden too, but I'm saving that part for a separate post, as there was a lot to take in and learn from.


Happy gardening.