Temple Newsam Walled Garden In January

I visited Temple Newsam Walled Garden back in July last year. You can read about it in my Garden Visiting In July - Part One and Garden Visiting In July - Part Two posts. I thought it would be a good idea to visit the garden in a different season to see the difference so we had a trip there last Saturday.

The Walled Garden which was once used for the cultivation of vegetables, fruit and cut flowers for the house is now a rose garden. When we visited back in July, the rose beds and flower borders were in full bloom. It's all very different in January.

We've had a mild winter up to now and many rose bushes have continued to flower giving some very late blooms, but many of the plants at Temple Newsam have been pruned and no flowers remain.

Some plants have been left to produce hips.

The garden looks very neat and tidy, but very empty at this time of year. I expected to see where the plants had died down in the borders but they've all actually been dug over. I'm not sure if anything's been left in the ground or whether whole new borders will be planted up in spring.

Only a few climbing plants remain in situ.

There wasn't much to see outside so I decided to have a look inside the conservatory. After the potting area, the first plants you come to are the pelargoniums. Such glorious colour still adorns this area even in the depths of winter.

Dogs aren't allowed inside the conservatory. Can you see Archie being a good boy and waiting outside?

Some plants are trained up columns and others up the back wall.

The next area is being used as a plant nursery. When we visited in July, this area was filled with a fabulous display of coleus, all different varieties and colours, but at the moment it's filled with seedlings and cuttings. I expect these will be the plants for the summer display.

The abutilons which were flowering in July are still flowering now. There's a good variety here.

Spanish Flag - Lantana Camara. A member of the verbena family.

There's a South African plant collection which has come from one of the gardens which Leeds entered at the Chelsea Flower Show. Some of these plants are flowering now.

Bird of paradise.

King protea.

Though there isn't much to see in the actual rose garden at this time of year, I'm sure you'll agree that the visit was worthwhile for the conservatory alone. I'd say that the garden is worth a visit at any time of year.