Nymans In Spring

Seasons are quite amazing aren't they? You can be stuck deep in Winter with freezing temperatures one minute, and then bam(!) Spring arrives and the plants go crazy, the sun shines hotter and baby animals appear all over the place. You forget that Winter was even a thing two weeks ago. Today has been too glorious a day to miss, so we, like so many other hundreds of Brits, ventured outside!
The Siblings and I journeyed to nearby Nymans, a local National Trust place that we are blessed to have practically on our doorstep, and which features at least once a year on this blog, along with several other NT properties.

Everything was over-bright today. the new leaves on the trees were zesty and almost yellow in their excitement to be out of their Winter casings and waving in the breeze; the sky was bluer and more intense than ever and even the stonework of the beautiful ruins were warmer and richer, hot to the touch as the stones bathed in the sunlight.

Every time I visit here I wish that time travel was a real thing- wouldn't it be fabulous to see how this place looked before it tragically burnt down? I think that about most old English manor houses actually; it would be so nice to see how the richest and most glamorous people lived in their enormous houses with beautifully tended gardens and showy interiors. What did these places look and feel and sound like in their heydays?

Not that I'm complaining, Nymans is pretty spectacular now, and whoever is looking after the gardens is doing a fabulous job. There were hundreds of varieties of tulip popping up all over the place, the South African inspired rockery garden was full of fascinating plants and pretty flowers, the Wisteria walkway, whilst too early for the Wisteria itself, was lined with roses, and the showy Rhododendron bushes were falling over themselves to be the brightest, biggest and boldest in the entire garden.

I was rather taken with these welly boot planters which were popped at random points throughout the garden. Such an effective idea!

Elvis decided to venture out and enjoy the sunshine too. It was good fun finding him little hiding places amongst the Primroses and Heather. There were lots of purple or blushed pink plants around as the Magnolia trees are starting to come out in full force as well, adding a very sweet scent to the air.

I would love to have a garden like this one with all of the different sections; a rose garden, a herb garden, a kitchen garden, the wild garden... maybe on a smaller scale though, and perhaps with somebody hired to actually take care of the garden on a day to day basis so that I could just wander to and fro, occasionally lending a helping hand when I was feeling particularly green fingered. Maybe I should just keep to my indoor pots!
Here's to many more long Spring days like this one!