Minterne Gardens

[puddleshark]

A wander around the Himalayan Gardens at Minterne, where the rhododendrons planted in the 19th century are big as trees.





I don't know why it should be so hard to take a good photo of rhododendrons and azaleas... but it is. In May, the rhododendrons are a blaze of colour. The azaleas are aflame. And none of my photos do them justice.









The honeysuckle scent of the azaleas was dizzying.



Paths wind through the greenery, alongside tiny streams lined with irises and primula japonica and gunnera, over little bridges.








Aquilegia.


The 'Pagolion' - a "hydrid between the open sides of a Pavilion, and the tiered Pagoda roof". It looked very new and raw on my last visit, but now it has been planted round with irises and white lilies, it is starting to look like it has always been there.


To one side of the wonky bridge of Minterne, the Himalayan Gardens. To the other side, 18th century parkland laid out in the style of Capability Brown.





And afterwards, tea and cakie on the terrace, with charmingly mismatched floral crockery:


A tiny tea cup, and a huge slice of vanilla-and-orange cake. I made heroic efforts, but in the end could only eat half, and had to ask for a little box take the rest home.

Comments

[asakiyume]

Lovely, every one, but my eyes lingered on the waterfall shot. Rhododendrons really are so incredibly **generous** (so many flowering trees are)

The teacup at the end is just right.

[puddleshark]

Thank you!

If you catch them at exactly the right moment, rhododendrons are incredibly generous with colour. And for the rest of the year they're generous with gloom. 😊

My heart always lifts when I see tea served in a little floral teacup...

[mallorys_camera]

Beautiful! You're an immensely talented photographer. And some flowers are impossible to photograph—like there are some blazingly orange Iceland poppies blooming near me now that I have been trying to photograph for days, but I can't do it: the black stamens blur out the specificity of the petals in closeup.

[puddleshark]

Thank you!

Yes, there are some flowers I just never manage to photograph. I have a 100 per cent failure rate with bright red dahlias! 😊

[bleodswean]

What a garden! Your photos do it justice! Especially all those darkesome winsome places. I, too, struggle to capture the ASTONISHMENT of rhodies and azaleas and even the dogwoods. Sometimes you just have to be there.

[puddleshark]

Thank you!

Sometimes you just have to be there.

Yes, the blaze of those flowers against the darkness... It is so hard for any camera to capture that.

[kaishin108]

Wow! Those are incredible. Yes, and the waterfall, wow!

[puddleshark]

Thank you!

It has always been a beautiful garden, but I think a new gardener has taken over in the last few years, and suddenly there are all these delightful little touches, like the irises and the japanese primulas planted along the streams. It really is quite breathtaking.