Hatfield House Gardens Part Four - The Final Part

I hope you have enjoyed these last few posts about Hatfield House and the gardens.

I was certainly inspired by my visit and have taken ideas from the house and garden to apply in my own home.

I didn't grow any nasturtiums this year and this display of them in the kitchen garden have reminded me to grow them again.  I think the cream ones are especially delightful.

They were growing various varieties of runner beans including purple podded ones.  Next year I think I will grow them up a framework like that shown above.

Great face on the a pillar of a gateway.

I think this plant is eryngium or sea holly.  The insects loved it!

 A lovely entrance to the gates.  Look at all that perfumed lavender either side.

 A gently bubbling water feature.

 A beautiful modern sun dial.  We couldn't see a shadow due to cloud cover.

 Calming water ripples.

Flower beds inside the kitchen garden and some lovely painted hen houses.  Chickens were seen but were elusive when it came to taking their pictures.

Hatfield House Part Two Around The Gardens

This post focuses on the outside of the house showing parts of the main garden and also the private garden which is only open on a Wednesday.

 The garden above is directly outside the The Old Palace where Queen Elizabeth I played as a child.

I believe this is nicotiana or tobacco plant.  I used to grow it many years ago and remember its heady evening scent.

Not sure what the plant above is.  Can anyone help?

We walked along a wild orchid path.

 Looking out across the lake from above the boathouse.

Nature left to go wild beyond the topiary.

 Magnificent topiary elephants in the private garden.

 That's the private East Wing behind the elephants.

 Love that little baby one!

 Horseshoes that adorn the topiary.

 Tree seat.

Massive sculpture. Neptune?  I still have more photos to share including back inside the house and of the private kitchen garden. 

A Garden Visit in Early March

I have not been for a long walk in ages so today I set off to walk 2.7 miles to Myddleton House Gardens as a destination point.  Part of my reason to go out walking today was to shake off some sadness I felt after reading a blog post by Alison May.  You can read it here.  It is very upsetting and makes me all the more determined to make the most of each day.

My garden visit didn't turn out as I had hoped. Walking around the gardens I felt uninspired.  All the snowdrops looked alike and much larger than I remember snowdrops being.  Regimented swathes of them lined up over the undulating earth.  There were Hellebore's with their heavy droopy heads that seemed to be hanging in shame and weak specimens of purple crocuses that looked like damp squibs popping out of the grass.  Had I been in a different frame of mind I may have felt differently about the plants but I wanted to feel excited and energised but the gardens in early March left me feeling flat. 

I continued walking around.  There was a group of elderly women following a tour guide and a few couples.  Apart from me there were no other people except for the volunteers who were busying about tidying and planting and looking industrious.  There really wasn't anything to catch my eye to record on camera apart from the 'neglected' corner pictured above.  In all the contrived planting in the garden I much preferred to see the naturalised primroses in front of the tin bath.  Now I am wondering if the scene was contrived or just happened by chance?

I didn't spend too long visiting as I still had to walk the 2.7 miles back to home with a detour to the supermarket to pick up something to eat!  I don't think I will be returning here for a while.  It all felt very sombre.