RHS Rosemoor

We had often thought about going to visit one of the RHS gardens, but we never seemed to be very near to one, and certainly they seem to have given the Midland of England a miss, thus creating a bit of a gardening desert in this area. Our recent short break in Devon found us staying just a few miles from one of their gems, and so whilst the weather was set fair we just couldn't resist it.
The RHS has spent the last 15 years creating a National Garden just to the south of Bideford in North Devon. Originally owned by Lady Anne Berry who handed over her famous 8 acre garden to the RHS in 1988. This with a further 32 acres of pastureland have been turned into a sensory delight. Upon leaving the entrance point, you are immediately grabbed by the wonderful retaining wall beds overlooking the various set gardens below.



There is a section of model gardens which are great for design ideas for the small town garden. Having wandered around these I began to wish that I could start again with our plot. This picture is actually from the central area of the Model Gardens and I couldn't resist the simplicity of form of these two trees.



There are really too many memories to include here, but this is another of the many borders. We were surprised by just how much colour there still was so comparatively late in the season. We shall have to try to go again ealier in the summer to see if they could be even better.



It is so hard to select any particular flower to photograph, but this Tritoma (Kniphofia, Red Hot Poker, Torch Lily - call it what you will) was just begging to be recorded. And who could fail to be impressed bt its ostentation.



There are a good many striking pieces of garden ornaments scattered around. This one I show for its quirkyness rather than any real photographic merit. It's a sun dial showing summer time and winter time, as well as the date on the other sides. Great if the sun is out, but a bit useless otherwise.



This dahlia was another of many blooms I had to get close up to. After a while you get so overloaded with the beauty of it all that you really don't know where to look next.






Areas of the gardens make good use of water as a feature. This was a cool spot on what was a quite warm day.

Take a look at Smugmug - : RHS Rosemoor for some more of the pitures I took that day.
or Royal Horticultural Society - RHS Garden Rosemoor for further general information.