A Few days in the Lake District

[shelagh]

Brian and I have spent 3 days this week in the English Lake District mainly around Ullswater.

Our trip up was very wet and we decided to stop at Holehird Garden for our lunch and thankfully the rain stopped and we were able to have a look round.

Holehird is the garden of the Lakeland Horticultural Society and all the work in the garden is done by volunteers.  It really is worth seeing and we have called on many occasions and never been disappointed. They have a small Alpine House, a Tufa House, a wonderful walled garden of herbaceous plants and terraces with Rhodo's, Meconopsis and many other plants.  They also have collections of Hydrangeas, Astilbes and Hostas.

[shelagh]

A few more pictures from Holehird.

[shelagh]

A few more from Holehird.

[shelagh]

Final few of Holehird.

[TheOnionMan]

Shelagh, looks like it was certainly worth a visit, some wonderful plants you're showing here.  Celmisia sessile Helichrysum sp. is a beauty, but the one that really sends me reeling is Cheilanthes wootonii, what an exquisite dryland fern, well grown and captured in your photo

And Davidia involucrata... that's a huge one

[Maggi Young]

Celmisia sessile is  not a Celmisia... it is a Helichrysum, possibly  H. milfordiae....

[Gail]

Lovely pictures Shelagh, thank you for posting.  I'd heard good things about Holehird from a friend, so it was nice to see the photos.

[Martinr]

Another garden I've always meant to visit, thanks Shelagh. Was the Primula forrestii indoors or out, looks as if it's in, or next to, a lump of Tufa. The Myosotis looks like rakiura rather than traversii. Now, what are my chances of being allowed to detour on the way to Skye?

[David Nicholson]

Lovely garden Shelagh, it's now on my list of places to visit.

[Lvandelft]

You definitely should David! But take your biggest umbrella with you!
Sheila, in late spring there are a lot of nice alpines to see. In October last year I counted many species alas not in flower then, so good you showed some now.

Did the troughs swim away? It seems to rain there all year  Nevertheless, this garden is one of the best I've see, whatever the weather is.

[shelagh]

We didn't see a drop (of rain) after we left there though Luit.

We stopped at a hotel right on Ullswater and here are a few views from the bedroom balcony.

Also Brian and I try to keep botrytis out of the garden so this tickled our sense of humour.  How much do forumists usually pay?

[TheOnionMan]

We didn't see a drop (of rain) after we left there though Luit.

We stopped at a hotel right on Ullswater and here are a few views from the bedroom balcony.

Also Brian and I try to keep botrytis out of the garden so this tickled our sense of humour.  How much do forumists usually pay?

I would go with the Cockburn's LBV 1997, at only £4.30, that's a bargain.  Never tried wines distilled with the botrytis method, but is is supposed to deliver an excellent extra sweet dessert wine.

[shelagh]

On our second day we headed for Dalemain House.  A typical country house garden with mainly herbaceous plants at this time of year but none the less pleasant for that.  Whilst we were enjoying this tranquil garden several helicopters disturbed our peace it wasn't until we got back and turned on the news that we learned of the disaster that had struck in the Whitehaven district.

Anyway here are a few pictures.

[Maggi Young]

It is almost too surreal to imagine such a peaceful and beautiful area being disrupted and the peace of mind of the locals shattered by the tragic shootings. It must seem as though these things happen in a different world altogether. 

[Ragged Robin]

Sheila, in places of such wonderful natural beauty it is particularly shocking when such unaccountable and dreadful things happen but I'm sure that the countryside plays its part in the recovery of its people as we too go to find regeneration through plants and places.  Your photos from the Lake District do just that, thanks for sharing them.