Dyffryn Gardens.........
..........lie just a few miles away from our visit to St. Cadoc's church in the Vale
of Glamorgan, too close for us not to pay it a visit. For some reason we
were not expecting anything particularly special, but happily we were
wrong
Marginal water plant - Pontederia cordata - Pickerel weed
Certainly this large garden has suffered as a result of the pandemic. A combination of the staff having to be placed on furlough, loss of income and reduced resources has meant that nature is thriving in the gardens i.e. unwanted weeds and growth that normally requires regular trimming and attention, but there were many really unusual plants in the garden which were a pleasure to see. 
The gardeners had sown lots of wild flower seeds in several of the main borders during the Spring months which are now filling the garden with joyous colours that sparkle in the sunshine along with this glorious show of chamomile daisies.
This week we have had our eldest son, DiL, and one of our granddaughters staying. I have now just about re-surfaced, having completely forgotten what it is like to have several guests in the house for a few days.
What a lovely garden, and how clever to sow the wild flowers to fill the areas usually meticulously attended. thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThe wildflowers were a joy to seee.
DeleteYour photos are excellent, thanks for sharing :) I've grown pickerel weed before, it's a nice one :)
ReplyDeleteThank you MrsL - the pickerel weed with its lovely lance-shaped leaves complimented all of the other acquatic flowers, and the bees were loving it too.
DeleteI always enjoy your garden photos. Isn't it often the case that places we visit without too much expectation turn out to be pleasant surprises? All sorts of enterprises have been affected by Covid, not always the obvious ones either.
ReplyDeleteThe Covid journey still has a long way to travel before we will really know what the true consequences of it have been.
DeleteLovely garden there. I agree with you with the feeling to discover everything again, as if we have been in a long wintersleep....
ReplyDeleteLovely expression - wintersleep - that sums the whole situation up perfectly.
DeleteThe gardens are wonderful and the addition of the wildflowers very appealing to me. The number of bees no doubt increased incrementally. Ice cream at the end of the day's activity has been a feature for both of us of lately. Lily and Heather were here for lunch yesterday and after a couple of hours with that little whirlwind I can barely imagine several people staying for days on end!
ReplyDeleteI must admit to feelings of panic when they said they were all coming - food to think about and prepare, bed linen and towels etc, and then all of the clearing up that goes on afterwards. We have been living such a simple twosome life for such a long time.
DeleteSame for us, and we can also anticipate each other's moves before they happen. Suddenly to have others to think about would be stressful almost!
Delete💚
DeleteWonderful photos of these plants and flowers. Thanks so much for sharing. Ice cream does sound fitting to enjoy with flowers!
ReplyDeleteGlad that you enjoyed Barbara.
DeleteDearest Rosemary,
ReplyDeleteHappy for you for having had your son and his family staying with you.
Yes, it requires a lot of extra planning and work but we called it always labor of love.
Aside from the Trumpet pitcher plants I also loved the blue Agapanthus in that image!
Everything looks so lush and healthy and let's hope that their visitors will return to normal numbers and also full occupation for maintaining this estate.
Hugs,
Mariette
Dear Mariette - Agapanthus are always a pleasure to see in the garden and they come in such lovely shades of blue, which I prefer to the white and pinkie/mauve ones.
DeleteThe gardeners were working really hard in many parts of the garden and they appeared to be a very dedicated and enthusiastic team of young people.
😊
DeleteHello Rosemary, In Ohio we have pitcher plants which grow wild in boggy areas, but I have never seen them growing around a clear pond like that. I would have thought they needed a more shady and "peaty" type of environment. I wonder whether Dyffryn Gardens has also tried to encourage other types of carnivorous plants.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Hello Jim - you are correct, the water was neither boggy or peaty. I was surprised at how large the pitcher plants were and also the variety of different colours. They looked really spectacular and very healthy.
DeleteI am sorry, I do not know whether they grow any other types of carnivorous plants or not.
A pleasant place to explore.
ReplyDeleteA place that we much enjoyed visiting.
DeleteAnother lovely garden.
ReplyDelete💚
DeleteWhat a pretty setting! The little touch of wildness now will probably mean a bit more work for the gardeners when they get stuck in, but there's nothing like throwing yourself into a bout of proverbial spring cleaning.
ReplyDeleteDon't remind me! - I really hate spring cleaning! Thank goodness it is not that time of year just yet.
DeleteFamily guests in the house is both wonderful, and exhausting. After such long lockdowns, you must have been thrilled to have them for a few days. The garden is really lovely, especially the red poppies contrasting with the blue wildflowers. Your photos are always a delight, and I enjoyed seeing the unusual trumpet flowers mixed with our old stalwart the Agapanthus. Ours are heading towards their Summer effort in a couple of months.
ReplyDeleteThe trumpet pitcher plants were so pretty and a fascination too - they are carnivorous.
DeleteHaving guests to stay after we have all spent such a long time as two people takes some getting used to. I found it so, even when the family just came over for dinner. It is exhausting. But happily, it's something that we can become accustomed to again.
ReplyDeleteI love the wildflower mix of red poppies and blue cornflowers. So very cheerful.
Have a great new week, Rosemary.
So many of the things that we have always taken for granted feel very strange.
DeleteI now wonder whether I am capable of organising a trip abroad or even getting to the airport, something that we didn't even think twice about. However, because the world has become so volatile - flooding, fires, etc we have made the difficult decision that in all conscience we will not fly again - our concerns are too great.
Enjoy your family Rosemary and it sure is different with more people in the house. There were just the two of us then one son came back home to live, then, 3 of his children followed for every second weekend, but I love it :)
ReplyDeleteThose photos are just gorgeous, you did extremely well and the flowers are a delight to see.
Take care.
I coped and everyone had a lovely time. It was great to see them again.
DeleteFor sure having people in the house can be tiring even though you love them , but when they leave it feels so empty :-) Love the naturalness of this garden .
ReplyDeleteThe vistas with such lovely expanses of water were simply lovely.
DeleteAnother beautiful garden. I have noticed with wildflower strips that they have to be resown every year as the ones I've seen here get weed smothered by the second year to the extent that you would never know it had wild flower seeds growing there at all. Which is strange because completely natural self sown wild flower verges come up sparkling in the same place every year I've noticed without any human maintenance through natural dominance of certain key species like clover, vetch, wild rose, meadow sweet etc, winning the contest seasonally over troublesome weeds and grasses that seem to easily edge out the packet sown mixture by the second year.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, the orinary common weeds do seem to be able to completely re-establish themselves and take over a wildflower area again the following year, which on reflection you would not expect.
DeleteDear Rosemary, thank you for showing that special garden and those wonderful photos!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought about the effect of the pandemic on huge gardens - and still do not understand why they couldn't be opened - in fresh air? But maybe there would be not enough fees when being allowed to let in only a reduced number of people - and maybe people were too afraid to travel - or weren't allowed by lock-down. In the Netherland we visited the Botanical Gardens of Leiden during the pandemic - such a treat, and they handled it wisely (they didn't do that at the even on Sunday opened supermarkets...)
As to receiving guests: yes: a joy and a task. But a good one, and we appreciate it even more to see each other.
Dear Britta - the main problem has been the huge limit on numbers being able to visit the gardens. Most of our gardens both large and small have been open throughout much of the pandemic. That is, once they had organised their online booking arrangements. However, you are right, as a consquence, the numbers allowed into the gardens has resulted in a huge reduction in their financial takings.
Deletethanks for sharing your beautiful pictures, I love the wildflower areas and hope to incorporate some into my own small garden next year. I wish our local authorities would encourage wildflowers more in public areas.
ReplyDeleteA packet of wildflower seeds scattered into an empty border can yield a delightful show of colour.
DeleteWhen we travelled through France a few years ago we saw some really lovely road islands filled with wildflowers which were a treat to see.
What a special surprise. I especially like the photos with the poppies in it.
ReplyDeleteThe poppies were a real delight to see in various shades from pale pink to scarlet.
DeleteBeautiful flowers. My favorite are pictures 3 and 4.
ReplyDeleteThank you - I am pleased that you enjoyed seeing the flowers.
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