Little House Garden
April Opening
- Little House garden in the Spring presents a great deal of colour with a wide range of early flowering plants. An early flowering plant that tends to be overlooked is the Hellebore. The plants at Little House have colours ranging from white to very close to black, with many shades in between. Sometimes they are rather shy and you find it necessary to lift the blooms to really appreciate the delicate colours. Widely popular Primula spp. are well represented in a range of colours and, given appropriate weather in early April, the P. auricula in the auricula theatre should be providing a good display along with others around the garden and in the small greenhouse. Our wildlife pond in the small woodland area should be hosting frogspawn and the early flowers in and around the bog garden will beginning to brighten the area.
June Opening
- The middle of the year is the time when all the open soil in the garden disappears and all the plants are in full growth. The front garden will display vigorous growth with pots and borders in full colour. As you walk around the garden there will be glimpses of the surrounding farmland through the trees. Our mini-meadow should be in full growth with grass and wild-flower bordered paths to guide you around. The little woodland will offer a cool sanctuary in the event that the weather is sunny. The route back to the refreshments is past the goldfish pond which is also home to newts and frogs despite the provision of a separate wildlife pond.
September Opening
- As the seasons change to Autumn there are many of the 600 or so different plants still flowering with substantial colour surrounding the remaining lawn at Little House. The "Dump" is largely filled with plants going to seed providing stored food for the wildlife. The pond is looking congested with all the lily growth and the dragon folly is slowly disappearing behind its ivy curtain. Hope for the forthcoming season is provided by cyclamen, seen here flowering under the protection of our young Dicksonia antarctica.