There's a lovely calming sound of running water as you wander around the garden with little streams and waterfalls running alongside the paths.
Most of the borders were looking quite bedraggled. This is to be expected at this time of year I suppose, and at least they're not completely bare.
Most of the trees have lost their leaves which are now covering the ground. There's lots of cyclamen underneath the trees in this photo but you can't really make them out because of the covering of leaves.
There's patches of cyclamen in a few areas around the garden.
It was a very cold day for our visit but the sun came out and it was catching the silver white trunk of this silver birch tree.
I'm always fascinated by monkey puzzle trees. This is a fine specimen.
I have honesty in my own garden, it's a plant I associate with my grandma as she often had the dried seed heads displayed in vases. I love how the sun catches them here.
There wasn't very much colour in the garden but there were odd pops here and there. The colour in the flowers of this hydrangea were faded but I thought they were beautiful.
Such large blooms. They've done well to last so long.
Another pop of colour from sedum, a great autumn plant which attracts hordes of bees and butterflies.
There was lots of bamboo growing in the garden, a plant I love for the rustling and swishing noise it makes as the wind blows through it.
Pampas grass is another plant which appeals to the senses. I can't pass the fluffy fronds without wanting to touch them.
This fatsia japonica is just getting ready to flower. This is a plant I'd love in my own garden.
This isn't a garden I'd particularly recommend, however, there are other aspects to Lister Park which are worth a visit, the Mughal Gardens which I wrote about in my Garden Visiting In April - Part Two post, a large boating lake, and Cartwright Hall which houses Bradford's civic art gallery, as well as the formal gardens outside Cartwright Hall which contains some interesting sculptures. You can read more in my Lister Park post which I wrote on my Through The Keyhole blog.
Most gardens, mine for sure, look bedraggled in November. Especially after the weather we've had, Lister doesn't look too bad. Any colour is so welcome isn't it.
ReplyDeleteI agree, especially after the weekend we've just had. It's good to see some colour in the garden at this time of year, those hydrangeas have done really well to still be blooming.
DeleteLovely pictures, I want to have more days out next year and visit more gardens, I love the sound of water running in a garden, we use to have a very small monkey tree years ago, we saw one when we visited the Lost Gardens of Heligan a few weeks ago , they are fascinating, the Hydrangeas are lovely, one of my favourites.
ReplyDeleteWe never really went garden visiting when the kids were small as they always got bored so we're making the most of it now. We have lots of gardens to visit nearby, we don't have to travel very far. I'd love to visit the Lost Gardens of Heligan, we haven't been able to when we've been on holiday as we've had Archie with us and dogs aren't allowed in.
DeleteThe Honesty seeds look like clusters of big silver dollars! I have been reading up about this plant and I see that it is a member of the brassica family, which explains a lot. My Grandma also used to like it.
ReplyDeleteI think honesty has so much to offer as a plant, pretty flowers which are scented and such lovely seed heads giving autumn interest too.
DeleteI love silver birches in winter. The white trunks look so dramatic.
ReplyDeleteI agree, you can see their beautiful bark once they've dropped their leaves.
DeleteCyclamen really are amazing aren't they, and I love the silver birch and the monkey puzzle, they are particularly striking at this time of year. The honesty is pretty as well, as you say, it gives so much value. It looks like a good trip, even if it wasn't your favourite place to visit. CJ xx
ReplyDeleteThere were lots of good bits rather than it being a good garden if you know what I mean. There are certain trees which really come in to their own once they've dropped their leaves, silver birch is one of them.
DeleteI had never seen nor heard of a Monkey Puzzle tree - it's fascinating! I'm going through my photos of the Fling and one of them was of an honesty plant, but when green - it's so lovely. I'm assuming they turn from green to the lovely silvery rounds as they dry?
ReplyDeleteHonesty is a lovely plant, it blooms in late spring and early summer, lilac or white scented flowers, before setting seed. The round seed heads start green and turn a papery silver colour in autumn. The seed heads used to be very popular as a dried flower.
DeleteI also love honesty I find it's one of the earliest plants to flower just in time for the bees coming out of their winter hideaways.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great plant for early colour in the garden but I love the papery seed heads in autumn too. I have a lilac variety but I like the white ones too.
DeleteHow beautiful. There's nothing like the sound of gently running water, especially when you're surrounded by visual beauty. It's like it gets all the senses at once!
ReplyDeleteI agree, water has such a calming effect. It's a wonderful addition to any garden.
DeleteIt's enjoyable to be able to wander around a public garden and appreciate plants and trees that look good in a big space such as the pampas grasses. A bonus would be the stream and waterfalls.
ReplyDeleteIt is. We're very lucky to have so many beautiful gardens to visit in our country. As you say, it's good to see plants set in a wider setting too rather than small back gardens.
DeleteA nice post and lovely pictures with lots of interest such as the honesty and monkey puzzle tree. Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteI was a little disappointed with the visit but there was quite a bit of interest really, especially saying it's November.
DeleteI love running water in a garden....just the sound of it is calming.
ReplyDeleteI love honesty.....something that never does very well in this garden. I will always persevere because I just love those seed heads.
Fatsia japonica is another plant I grow. I have three, I love the large leaves.....I am always amazed that they survive our harsh winters, they look so topical.
Lovely post Jo..........
I do too, it's the trickling sound which is so appealing. Honesty does really well here, so much so that it's beginning to take over, it self seeds everywhere but I don't mind, it's so easy to pull up if it's in the wrong place. I would love a fatsia japonica, it's the flowers which do it for me. I agree it looks like a tropical plant, something a bit different for the garden.
DeleteYou have highlighted some nice aspects of this garden, Jo. Nothing is blooming in our November gardens, so I enjoyed this visit. I can almost hear that waterfall! P. x
ReplyDeleteI didn't really think there was much to highlight as I looked around the garden but I was wrong, I think I was perhaps expecting too much of a November garden. The streams and waterfalls are a lovely feature, very calming as you wander round.
DeleteIt's hard to find anything much growing now. I did enjoy the running water, bamboo and pampas, fatsia japonica grows all over here from seed, grab a few next time you pass any, you'll have a good sized plant in a year.xxx
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise that fatsia japonica is so easy to propagate, I'll definitely have to give it a go. It's such a lovely plant, I'd really like one in the garden, not sure I've really got the room though.
DeleteI think you have done so well with your photo's Jo.
ReplyDeleteI always like cyclamen they add a great splash of colour don't they ... when they eventually come through any leaves etc.
That pampas grass looks lovely.
Hope your week is going well.
All the best Jan
Cyclamen is a great plant to give splashes of colour in winter. I bought about five plants a couple of years ago and two are still going strong. I know some people find they increase their numbers easily but I haven't found that to be the case here, yet.
DeleteActually, it looks as if there is a fair amount of interest there for the time of year. I had a monkey puzzle tree in my old garden. I can't even start to describe how painful it was when those branches tapped me on the head. I hated weeding around it!
ReplyDeleteThere is quite a bit of interest in the garden, though you wouldn't think so at first sight, you really need to get in there and walk around for it to become apparent. Ouch! I feel your pain with the monkey puzzle tree.
DeleteA lovely garden. Cyclamen is one of my favourite flowers. I love silver birch at this time of year - we have some in our garden. And I love honesty though we haven't managed to get any to grow yet.
ReplyDeleteI have a silver birch in my front garden, we used to have one in the back but it grew much too large for our small garden and we had to have it taken out. Honesty grows like a weed here, I always have to remove some each year but there's always plenty left.
DeleteI used to work in Bradford many years ago but I've never visited Lister Park. It's a real pity that parks like this have lost their oomph. I guess councils can't afford to spend money on them like they used to which is such a pity. We spotted a similar clump of honesty at the weekend at the bottom of a hedge. I was surprised at how pristine it looked at this time of year.
ReplyDeleteI know many parks are sitting neglected in cities throughout the UK but I'm pleased to say that Lister Park isn't one of them, it's very well kept and has a lot to offer, the botanical gardens are just one of its features. I've got honesty seed heads in my own garden, I never cut them down as I think they're so pretty, and they readily self seed saving me a job next year.
DeleteDespite their delicate appearance those little cyclamens are tough customers. Not just beautiful flowers but fabulous foliage as well :) It looks as if you were there on rather a cold day Jo but what a fabulous blue sky.
ReplyDeleteThey are and they really brighten up a winter garden. It was literally freezing whilst we were there, lots of black ice and a biting wind, but it lifted my spirits seeing a bit of blue sky.
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