Monday 26 May 2008

Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens Part 2

In response to those who queried the pink flower in my last post
It is a Rock Rose
I grew it from a cutting taken from a friend's garden
After 200 years, this garden at Leonardslee is often described as the
"most beautiful landscape garden in Europe in May"
I think I would agree with that.


We saw the rock garden in part 1, but now let's walk through the main garden.
We will walk the many paths that wind around this 200 acres of paradise.We are going to be walking up and down the steep slopes and around the 7 lakes at the bottom.
We will walk the wooded slopes steeped in Azaleas, the Magnolias and Camelias having finished and enjoy the
contrast of the wild Bluebells.
We will not miss the reflections in the lakes,
the Philip Jackson sculptures and the
wallabies brought to the garden 100 years ago as a way of keeping the grass clipped.
The white wallabies are a rare species.
They are moved around the garden as necessary




















Have you noticed how often this man appears in my photos!
He's a saint actually to hang around while I do all this photography!









I'm 'stumped'






Beautiful reflection



























Behind the scenes


































We did take 4 breaks
coffee, lunch, ice-cream and afternoon tea
When we had seen the rock garden and these main gardens there was still the amazing dolls house and the vintage cars
so do come back soon and enjoy

28 comments:

Needled Mom said...

The gardens are just GORGEOUS! I would want to spend days there taking it all in. So glad you were able to share the pictures with us.

a woman who is said...

Wow, there is so much here to comment on here.

First of all, back to the last post, who knew rock roses, got that big! Now I remember how everything in England grew twice the size of our plants here.

The reflection picture… that should be published.

Love you on the stump :]

I can't believe how expansive this garden is!

Okay probably another dumb question, but what are those sleepy creatures?

Willow said...

I saw the wallabies! I saw the wallabies! The rhodies are magnificent!

Coffee, lunch, ice cream and tea all sound wonderful.

Linds said...

Breathtaking, Barbara. I adore azaleas. I have never been there, and so now I keep addign the places you visit to my "to do" list!!
Absolutely stunning.

Anonymous said...

Jeez, these pictures are so wonderful. I liked the one of you 'stumped'
Hee hee!!!

Love Cherry xoxoxo

duopastorale said...

I am definitely going to get there next year!

Rebecca said...

I love the statues and the twisted tree trunks!

Vee said...

Unbelievable color combinations...exquisite. I'd wander around all day in a garden with you and that strange man who keeps showing up in your photos. Yes, he is a saint for putting up with it all, but I think he likes it as well as you or else he'd have balked long ago. ;D

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Barbara, your photos are absolutely stunning. What a beautiful place Leonardslee is! Those wallabies seemed to be shirking their grass clipping duties for the most part! They are funny....the white ones don't look real.

That man who keeps appearing in your photos- ;D -looks a bit like Indiana Jones! Love the hat.

Sara

Anonymous said...

With so much beauty to see I can certainly understand why you took so many photos. The sculptures are amazing.

Paula said...

I would love to go there. Just beautiful. All the colors...
Love you on the stump too..
The man in the background is a saint..
Those statues are neat.
I'm ready for an ice cream break too.

Susan said...

Truly a part of God's beautiful world!!
Susan

Barbara Jacksier said...

Hi Barbara
Thanks for the tour. Even with all of the breaks, you must be exhausted after shooting so many photos. The rock roses are the biggest I've ever seen.

Susan Skitt said...

Stunning pictures Barbara!!! I do so love visiting these English Gardens with you. You should do a whole book on them! Who knows, maybe the tourism department will sponser it!

And that man that keeps showing up in the pictures... hmmm... he does look familiar. (smile)

Now "I'm stumped..." What a great little pun. Loved it!

Take care. Things have been very busy around these parts with soccer and baseball!

Barbara said...

I'm overwhelmed! Your pictures give an excellent impression of this beautiful woodland landscape park. Meanwhile I read a short article about this park in "1001 gardens you must see before you die". I love the meadow with the wild bluebells, the sculpture and your comfortable (;-) !) tree-seat. I never saw a blue azalea before.

Linda said...

Wow, what gorgeous gardens. I wonder how many gardeners it takes to keep it looking that lovely?
I love the stump chair.

Dorothy said...

Barbara..I've never seen anything quite so fantastic! I would go a bit further.... the gardens are the most beautiful in the world...Thank you for sharing...just lovely..

Mmm said...

Gorgeous flowers! BTW, I thought you might like to know I added your blog to my blogroll just created. Now I can find my way back here alot easier!

Anonymous said...

Stunning photos Barbara - I must pay a visit sometime, and your dear husband's always been a saint!

Annie Jeffries said...

Oh my. I lost waaayyyy too much work time this morning as I explored this beautiful garden with you. And, I spotted a white kankaroo. Or were they wallabees?Awesome!!

Anonymous said...

What an absolutely gorgeous garden. Thank you so much for taking us on a walk through it with your beautiful photos. I love the statues... but I was wondering what they were? Sorry if that's a silly question.

Gorgeous post!

inspired said...

beautiful colors \o/

Charm and Grace said...

Dear Barbara,

Once again I must ask you to thank St. Alan for his patience in your picture taking! Seriously, you are blessed to be accompanied by someone willing to wait while you do this. (I'm not so sure mine would stand for it!) But, these are stunning... not sure which is my favorite, but the blue one is definitely up near the top. Thank you for taking the time... again.

Love,
Christi

Anonymous said...

Wonderful pictures! I had such fun looking at them all! Just stopping by from Georgia, USA to say Hello! Enjoy your day!

Anonymous said...

You must have been ready for a nice cup of tea after all that walking! What a lovely day out.

If peppermint oil makes your eyes water, you may be using too much ~ try a single drop.

Marie x

Anonymous said...

Barbara, I was just talkin with roomie about doing a European garden tour some day. I thought immediately of all your lovely posts dedicated to places to visit. Thank you for doing these and sharing your photos!

Lavinia said...

I've given you an award; you are one of the 5 blogs that make my day! Pop over to the birdbath and see what its all about...

Elizabeth said...

I was here once, ages ago.
The exbury azaeleas are amongst the most lovely and fragrant of all flowers.
This was a super virtual tour.
I'm glad you had some snacks too....
have a great weekend.