UK #3

Rosa 'Sophy's Rose'.


The French Experience - a story taken from the heart of every woman who has ever dared to love.... completely. Oh, oops, no, that is from another soap opera. Anyway anyway anyway....
Where were we? We were up to Wednesday I think and it was an action packed day. In fact I threw a spanner in the works a little as Kevin and Karen had planned to take me to Beth Chatto's garden, but it was quite a long drive away and we would have needed to have left in the morning. Which was fine, except that I had a dental appointment at lunchtime, as you may recall.
I was pretty much hanging out for another meeting with my new best friend the dentist. And to cut a long story short he fixed my tooth and avoided root canal work which he thought might have been necessary. He really was a very nice man. My dentist in Auckland is new and I don't like him. He is rude to his nurse for a start. And arrogant. I may have to go to Brentwood on an annual basis for dental care!
So what a relief that was! And we were on our way. K & K had been told about another large garden - Hyde Hall - which was much closer and according to reports every bit as good as Beth Chatto's garden, if not better. And it's true. If you are ever in the general Essex area I HIGHLY recommend a visit. It is just magnificent.
When we first arrived we discovered that we were just in time for a falconry display which was quite interesting.
Karen was utterly captivated and would have liked to have been part of it all. I enjoyed it, and I loved the great relationship the falconer had with the falcons, but birds don't really do it for me in a big way. So then we set off to explore the gardens. They were immaculately looked after and just beautiful. Hyde Hall is owned and managed by the Royal Horticultural Society and I would say is a feather in their cap. Or a proud bloomer in their garden! I won't go on and on as it will mean very little, especially if you don't care much about gardens! But there were cool little 'extras' such as the Harry Potter Trail
which I'm sure was interesting for everyone, and not just kids. There was a New Zealand garden, water lily ponds, rose gardens, 'dry' gardens, etc etc. And my favourite - the herbaceous borders. I think it's probably the loveliest public garden I have ever seen.








Certainly it was a good time of the year to visit, but I suspect that there is always something to see.



The gift/plant shop is moving to a larger building so K & K had much delight in getting a few things for their garden - 75% off!







Aren't these swathes of planting just beautiful?






This was just stunning.





We then drove to Maldon and watched about 10 yachts go through a lock. And we had tea at a local pub. It promised much but.... Never mind.

After a bit of a walk and a photo of some pink row boats for Sienna who is very partial to pink, we headed back to the car and home. I had just been quite blown away by the sheer beauty of the gardens, and most taken with the countryside in general.