Sunday 25 January 2015

Harlow Carr In January

After renewing my RHS membership at the end of last year, we thought we'd take our first trip of the year to Harlow Carr yesterday. I think we chose the nicest day of the month so far, though it was very cold, the sun was shining.


You wouldn't have thought there was still snow on the ground in Harrogate as it was such a bright day, but much of the garden was still covered in a thin layer of the white stuff.


It was pleasant in the sunshine but was quite bitter when the wind blew so we only spent about an hour there and didn't get to see lots of areas, but I'll show you the bits I managed to photograph.

It's evident by the shoots breaking through the earth that the garden is starting to wake up. I'm sure the snow will have slowed everything down but we can see that there's plenty of things eagerly waiting for spring to arrive.


There's some beautiful witch hazel in the gardens, a wonderful shrub for winter interest and scent, though I didn't catch any of the fragrance yesterday. Apparently, you should breathe on the flowers to warm them up on cold days before they'll release their scent.


I love this leaf bin. As the leaves are held in a teapot, does it make them tea leaves?


I have to confess that my favourite part of Harlow Carr is the Kitchen Garden. It includes raised beds for vegetables, a fruit and herb garden, willow beds and flowers for cutting. Much of this garden was covered in remnants of snow, but you can still see that it's productive in the winter as well as summer months.



There's a large rhubarb patch and many of the plants are being forced with these attractive rhubarb forcers.


This photo doesn't show the trained apple trees very well. I'm sure they'll become more evident once they have leaves again.


Each tree has one of these lovely wooden labels giving its name.



I'm so envious of this greenhouse, isn't it a beauty? The coldframes down the side would come in extremely handy too.


At the moment, the greenhouse is filled with pots of herbs and bulbs. Everything is well labelled.


At the back of a shed are these trained currant bushes. There's both red and white currants and they're being grown in containers. I'm always pleased to see things growing successfully in pots as not everyone has a garden but it doesn't mean they can't grow fruit and veg.


By now, I was getting rather cold so we made our way to the Alpine House. As you can see, it's a beautiful building and a brilliant place to take shelter from the icy wind.


Outside the Alpine House are these wonderful little troughs filled with saxifrage, sempervivum and dianthus.



As we had a break from the chill outside, we admired all these wonderful little plants, some of them flowering in the depths of winter.



Most of the plants are grown in pots so they can be moved about in to the best position and replaced once they've done their thing.


There's even plants in the cracks of the display walls.


As we ventured back outside, I decided that I couldn't take the cold any longer so we decided to call it a day.


I'm sure that the next time we visit, those little shoots will be bigger shoots just waiting to burst in to flower.

30 comments:

  1. I love the teapot! It's wonderful to see those shoots coming up - the new growth is so vibrant at this time of year. And as for the kitchen garden still being productive - fab! Jane x

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    1. I love seeing all the shoots at this time of year, it makes me remember that spring isn't too far away. The Kitchen Garden is my favourite part of Harlow Carr, there's always something to see even in the depths of winter.

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  2. I agree with you, I would die for a greenhouse with cold frames like the one above, but ti would take up most of my garden. Lovely photo's.

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    1. It would be the same with my garden. I have a little 4X6 greenhouse which has to do me for the time being.

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  3. Lovely photos and lovely gardens whatever the season. We try to visit at least twice a month and the changes we observe never fail to surprise me.

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    1. It's good to visit gardens like these on a regular basis, as you say, there's always something new to see. I'm so pleased that the RHS keep their gardens open to the public during winter, we'd miss so much if they closed.

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  4. A most enjoyable post, and wonderful pictures. That tea pot made me smile. I have been there a couple of times during spring and summer a long time ago, and it's somewhere I'd certainly like to visit again. Flighty xx

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    1. There's so many different areas that it's hard to take it all in on one visit so I'm pleased that I've renewed my membership as it will allow me many visits throughout the year. I'd like to visit other RHS gardens but I'm not sure that will be on the cards this year.

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  5. I love details like the teapot. We visited about 18 months ago and really liked it.

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    1. I remember a similar wire bear, used to collect leaves, when I was there last. I didn't see it this time but I shall look out for it when we go again. They're fabulous gardens, definitely worth a visit.

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  6. The kitchen gardens are impressive and that's the area that would interest me. It's good to see labels and the wooden ones are also different and attractive. The Alpines are lovely and they must get plenty of attention from the staff as well as the right conditions to produce those flowers in Winter. I should think that RHS gardens are interesting places and worth the subscription if you visit often.

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    1. I love the Kitchen Garden, so inspiring. Everything is labelled so well, I like to see that in a garden like this as you can take so much away and the names are there for you. I subscribed to the RHS with Tesco Clubcard Vouchers, just £17 for a single membership, but you can take a family member in to the RHS gardens with your for free so it's well worth it.

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  7. Hello Jo,

    I love to be here and see all the pictures such as the pots of the plants, the name tags of the trees and the big tea leaf bin, which is great! I like to see before and after pictures to see the changing a place has.

    Sandra

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    1. It's a wonderful place to visit any time of the year, but as you say, if you visit throughout the year, you can see the changing seasons.

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  8. I could imagine wonderful time spent pottering around in the greenhouse and alpine house over winter. It feels like Spring in there already.

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    1. If only. My little greenhouse isn't big enough for any pottering but I'd be out there all the time if I had something as wonderful as this. It does look like spring in the alpine house with lots of plants blooming away.

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  9. We were planning a visit last week but er cancelled as it was so cold. Last year it was lovely when the bulbs were flowering.

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    1. It wasn't much warmer yesterday. It would have been lovely in the sunshine if only the wind wasn't blowing. I noticed lots of large pots of tulips, nothing showing yet but I remember some beautiful displays when I last had my membership.

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  10. I love those old granite containers for the Alpine plants. I expect they were once water-troughs for horses or something. Re the greenhouses: I like the BIG one! (I'd also like a team of gardeners to look after it please!)

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    1. The alpine house is beautiful, isn't it. The smaller wooden one would suit me just fine, complete with water butts and coldframes. They were selling the alpine containers in the plant shop but they're quite a price, they're lovely planted up though.

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  11. Oh what a fantastic place to visit Jo in any season. I've only been the once in late summer a good few years ago but still have vivid memories. I do like the teapot, apple labels and fabulous hares :) I imagine that your leg must be improved if you were up to a garden visit so that's good news.

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    1. My leg's fine now, it didn't stop me galavanting on Saturday. I think gardens take on different looks in different seasons so it will be nice to see all the changes at Harlow Carr throughout the year.

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  12. It is lovely to see the garden at this time of year. I love the teapot/tealeaves! How much fun is that. Good to have a sense of humour in the garden isn't it! Glad you had fun. xx

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    1. It is fun to have a bit of humour and quirkiness in a garden. I love the willow hares, there's other willow sculptures at Harlow Carr too.

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  13. What a good idea...just breathe on the plants to warm them up and release their perfume....I'll be out first thing tomorrow breathing on my witch hazel!
    I loved that tea leaf pot and the boxing hares! Alpines are just delightful aren't they....little miniature delights. I'm glad you got to enjoy such a lovely day out despite the cold!xxx

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    1. You'll have to test out the witch hazel trick. I love alpines, especially seeing them in such a grand setting. It's amazing how such tiny, delicate looking plants can be so hardy, doing their thing in the most inhospitable conditions.

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  14. Wish we could have been there with you. I've some wonderful photos of Harlow Carr from our visit in 2011. The large glasshouse looks so different than when we were there in June, so thanks for taking me along for the walk. Take care.

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    1. The gardens can change dramatically from season to season so it's nice to visit at different times of the year. I'm looking forward to spring when all the bulbs are doing their thing, there's lots of containers planted up just waiting to spring to life so I'm sure there'll be some beautiful displays.

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  15. What a wonderful place. I love the teapot.

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    1. It's a fabulous garden. I'm looking forward to many more visits throughout the year.

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