The kitchen garden at Gravetye Manor

At the start of the month we headed down to Sussex for an early celebratory meal at Gravetye Manor; it's somewhere that's been on my radar and to visit list for a while and I'd heard the afternoon teas there were just fabulous. Although when I looked at the sample menus, everything looked fabulous and we quickly upgraded ourselves to a proper meal. We'd hope to book a dinner reservation, but by the time we remembered to actually book they were full for the dates that worked for us, so we opted for lunch instead.  

It felt slightly strange, but quite decadent, to spoil ourselves on a Tuesday lunchtime, but it actually worked out really well as despite being full of gorgeous food we were able to wander around the gardens and beautiful grounds in our finery, which wouldn't have been an option after an evening meal, and let's face it it'd be highly unlikely that we'd get there early enough to do it beforehand (although on reflection that is probably the best advice I can give you!)

After cocktails, three courses and coffee with petit fours and some relaxing and recovering in the lounge we headed out to the gardens. I'd read that there was a walled garden, so that was incentive enough. I'll admit though it's the first garden I've explored in heels, but given that this exploration took place after a gourmet lunch, I think it was the lunch more than the heels that slowed us down.

When I saw these gates, the entrance to the walled garden, I knew we'd made the right choice to get up and explore. Aren't they beautiful?

Inside the walled garden we were to discover the most bountiful of gardens which is used to supply fruit, vegetables and flowers for the hotel and restaurant, and that explains why there were such mounds of rhubarb and artichokes. That's quite a responsibility to grow enough to satisfy a restaurant dish.

RHUBARB

GLOBE ARTICHOKES

The garden is oval in shape, or elliptical if you want to be formal about these things, and the path leads and encourages you around the garden. It's one of the few remaining Victorian walled kitchen gardens that remains in production and covers 1.5 acres of what Gravetye Manor say is "the most beautiful soil imaginable" and I suspect they have a point.

What surprised me was the number of flowers being grown, but on reflection and learning they supply the hotel with cut flowers it's not that surprising. It did remind me that I should grow more flowers in my allotment and this year I'm determined to add a cut flower bed. 

FOXGLOVE

LOOK AT THOSE PURPLE STEMS

Part-way round the garden I spotted another gate, and I think this one, even more beautiful than the entrance gates. Its design, the clematis clambering over it and the lichen covered sandstone walls all contributing to the prettiest of pictures.

As we continued to walk around the walled garden it was the flowers and flowering herbs that caught my attention, and I'm rather pleased with some of my iPhone shots.

POPPY

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CHIVES

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FROTHY FRONDS

It was good to see the apple blossom, I think it's slightly longer lasting than the cherry blossom which has already been and gone in our own garden and is often the blossom "snow" so prevalent in April and early May.

APPLE BLOSSOM

And there were berries too, that will no doubt end up on a fortunate diner's plate. We were curious though as to what colour these would turn out to be, and it's unlikely we'll ever know.

A STRING OF BERRIES

As we left the garden there was a small brick hut right by the entrance which was covered with roses and clematis entwined and it made what is no doubt still a functional space pretty and seem completely at home in its environment.

CLEMATIS AND ROSES ENTWINED

So a great wander around a fantastic space, and my fascination for walled and kitchen gardens remains in place, there really is something special about them, but when there's a walled kitchen garden to explore, it's totally something else!

A coastal walk in Swanage

There's something special about your first glimpse of the sea when you arrive in a coastal town isn't there? In our family, even now, there's a rush to exclaim who can "see the sea" first, and on our March trip to Dorset, seeing the sea brought the same feeling of wonderment and I don't think it was any coincidence that a trip to the coast was one of our first outings. And boy, did Swanage deliver. 

We'd arrived in the town by steam train, as you do, and although I'd been to Swanage on an earlier family holiday I had no recollection of the town. I remembered the headland from a more recent visit, but this was also my first steam train ride for quite a while too, but that's for another day.  

The textures of the railings against the sandy sea were mesmerising, but it wasn't all old-fashioned charm. This double row of modern beach huts added pattern and repetition to the front, in a way that more traditional beach huts wouldn't.  

It was March though, and despite being lucky with the weather for the time of year, it was apparent that it was still March. Very few, if any, beach huts were obviously in use, and the beach was pretty empty too.  

Woolly hats rather than flip-flops were the order of the day, ironically much like the weather we're having now. In May. Let's hope the promise of warmer weather plays out, I'm keen to start wearing more summer-y clothes.  

 Leaving the beach behind us, we headed up towards the coastal path and onto Old Harry.  

It wasn't long before I stopped to snap some unusual looking vegetation- I've no idea what it is, and it's most peculiar looking isn't it? 

The yellow flowering gorse bushes framed our view of the sea, offering peeks every now and then. 

And more so, as we looked back over to where we'd started.  

But onwards, and upwards- or rather along, choosing our walking "lane" with care.  

Remember I said it was windy, just look at the daffodils and see how they're coping.  

And then some time to really admire Old Harry and friends, and really why wouldn't you? 

Instead of retracing our steps back to the town, we headed inland along the Purbeck Ridgeway where we learnt about Dorset winds. The wind before had nothing on this new wind, and we battled our way along this exposed path, with people in front and behind clearly as crazy and determined as ourselves. 

My hands remained firmly gloved, and on my scarf, so pictures are few and far between. Heading off of the ridge was very welcome, and once again our views changed.  

Just look at that patchwork of fields... 

A beautiful walk, in a beautiful county but the first cup,of tea back at the cottage was so very welcome! 

Checking out the camellias

On our recent Dorset adventures I was keen to revisit Kingston Lacy and see the garden at a different time of year. I'd hoped that the camellias would be in flower, and I wasn't disappointed. I remembered that this gate would lead me to the camellias, but first we needed to walk through the Lime Avenue which this time was lined with daffodils.

The last time we were here - in 2015 - the lime trees were undergoing some work and the bushyness around the trunks were being cut back, but they were back, so it seems like many gardening jobs it's one that needs to be done, and re-done quite often.

It was a chilly day and our wooly hats were out.

I'd remembered correctly and it wasn't long before we were in the Winter Garden and admiring the camellias.

The plants originate from China and Japan centuries before they were seen in Europe; here in the UK they were first seen in Essex in the 1730s which is quite something isn't it? And the first here were red and white blooms, and by pure coincidence I'm typing this between a red and white flowering bush.

For me camellias are the type of flower you draw as a child, with their petals emanating from the centre. Red, white and pink are typical colourings - we have one of each in our garden - but I was rather taken with this pink version at Kingston Lacy.

The other thing that strikes me about camellias is how they fade; their petals turn brown but often they stay on the bush decaying beautifully. They're definitely an outside plant though, I cut some once to have as cut flowers in the house and within a day all the petals had fallen off.

They do eventually drop, but I think they look just as beautiful on the ground. 

We also saw camellias - both the faded sort and the more colourful versions at Compton Acres, another of the gardens we visited in Dorset.  I'll share more about that garden another time, but if you're in Poole, it's worth a visit and it's always nice to visit an independent garden, as as nice as the National Trust gardens are, at times I think they can feel a bit formulaic and same-y.  That's not to say I don't enjoy them, but at Compton Acres it had a different vibe.

At Kingston Lacy I decided to look closer at some of the fallen flowers, this one was huge - easily bigger than my hand - and had a hole right through the centre where the stem would be. I tried to persuade MOH that it'd make a great adornment for his wooly hat, but he was less sure and having none of it. I've a photo of him looking none too impressed and I'll spare his blushes by not sharing it here, instead just take a look at the flower. I told you it was big...

I was also struck by the different shapes of the flower, this almost triangular, or star-shaped flower just goes to demonstrate my point. It has a more delicate look to it I think and is a delicate blush pink.

The buds of camellias remind me of peonies. All bound up tight in a ball and ready to burst; we saw that at both Kingston Lacy (above) and Compton Acres (below). They're fab aren't they - so much prettiness bound up into such a small and tightly bound sphere.

One of the camellias we saw at Compton Acres in Poole was this red one below, it stood out for its centre. It's quite different to the others we'd seen. The central section has much shorter, almost brush like petals, although I'm not sure if that's the correct name for them. It's just as pretty though isn't it?

And the other thing for me about camellias is how pretty they look on the ground. I was reminded of a walk around Standen a couple of years ago, but instead of a single bloom on the ground, it was more like confetti.

In our garden our red camellia is still flowering, it's still a little shy but I think that's mostly because it's shaded by the fatsia. At the back of the garden our newer, white camellia is also quite shy. The bush is growing and there's been a couple of flowers, but I think its best is still to come, so for me, it was great to see these camellias in full bloom while we were away.

Are your camellias still in flower, and are they as abundant as the ones we saw in Dorset?