A wet visit to Holehird Gardens

Magnolia 'Caerhays Surprise' on the lawn in the Walled Garden

A visit to friends in the Lake District gave me the opportunity to return to Holehird Gardens this afternoon. The 17 acres of neatly kept gardens are run entirely by volunteers who are members of the Lakeland Horticultural Society, and are a testimony to their competence and good will. Unfortunately the Lake District lived up to its reputation for heavy rainfall for the whole weekend, and the gardens were thoroughly drenched: it was a brief visit and these are a few iPad snaps to give an idea of the range of interesting plants currently in flower there. There is no cafe at Holehird, but I can thoroughly recommend Francine's, in nearby Windermere, for an excellent lunch.

The only dry spot: the alpine house, with nicely constructed tufa walls full of choice plants.

Saxifraga x biasolettoi 'Atropurpurea' (though the RHS Plant Finder suggests this name may not be correct).

Part of the rock garden

Rhododendron 'Pemakofairy',  ground-hugging dwarf with comparatively large flowers, rather the worse for rain.

The daffodils were sadly much bashed-about by wind and heavy rain.

I thought the planting round this runnel (taking run-off through the walled garden) was very well done: the combination of Corydalis and Dicentra  is charming. The picture really doesn't do it justice.