Daffodils, tulips, peonies and fritillaries all signal that spring has arrived. Here is a selection of the gardens in Norfolk opening their gates to share their wonderful displays
The first spring weekends of the year deserve something special, so why not get outside and visit a beautiful Norfolk garden?
The well-established charity the National Garden Scheme has a number of gardens on display; on Sunday, April 2, Richard Hobbs at 16 Wittton Lane, Little Plumstead, NR13 5DL, opens his tiny cornucopia of a plot, packed with rare bulbs and many other unusual spring flowering plants collected from around the world.
East Ruston Old Vicarage, NR12 9HN has a special open day for the NGS on Saturday, April 22, and this renowned garden always has lots of delights and surprises in its 32 acres of adventurous ideas and stunning plant combinations. On Sunday, April 23, The Old House at Ranworth, NR13 6HS, opens for the first time for the NGS in a lovely setting by Ranworth Inner Broad. There are linked and walled gardens, an arboretum and spectacular views of the broad.
Lake House at Brundall, NR13 5LU ,and Plovers Hill, Strumpshaw, NR13 4NL, are opening together on April 30 and May 1.
The NGS has two gardens on show for the Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday. At Wretham Lodge in East Wretham, IP24 1RL you can wander through a meadow full of fritillaries and seek out hellebores and a multi-coloured display of tulips in the walled gardens. Desert World Gardens near Santon Downham, IP27 0TU specialises in tropical and arid plants and has greenhouses packed with fascinating curiosities.
Additionally St John Ambulance has organised a programme of open gardens through spring and summer.
On Sunday, April 9, West Lodge, Rawlinson Lane, Aylsham, NR11 6HB, opens the gates; a late Georgian town house set in nine acres of splendid grounds with lawns and trees, herbaceous borders and shrubs. Open 12 to 4.30pm (Please follow signs not satnav.)
Manor Farm, Coston, Barnham Broom, NR9 4DT is a three acre country garden set in unspoilt countryside which is open on Sunday, April 23, from 12 to 5pm. There are several small garden rooms with both formal and informal planting, a walled kitchen garden, white, grass and summer gardens, roses, herbaceous and shrub borders.
On Sunday May 14, Open 12 to 5pm The Old Rectory, Whissonsett, Dereham, NR20 5TF, is open. The gaden has different areas to explore, some divided by beech, yew and cloud pruned holly hedges. There is a walled garden with water feature, borders and box parterre, other mixed herbaceous and shrub borders with quince trees, climbing roses and clematis, ornamental pond, working kitchen garden, orchard with central circular hornbeam hedge,and a woodland walk.
The gardens at Stody Lodge, Melton Constable, NR24 2EW, are well known for the sheer intensity of the planting together with the carefully planned riot of colour on a grand scale – 14 acres in total. The extensive collection of rhododendrons, azaleas, magnolias and camellias are all underplanted with spring bulbs and the four-acre Water Gardens, a short walk from the house, are considered to have the largest planting of azalea mollis, around 2,000 plants, in the UK. The gardens are open on Monday, May 29, from 1pm to 5pm.
Details of NGS gardens in England and Wales can be found at www.ngs.org.uk
For details of the SJAB gardens email
georgieholloway@hotmail.com or call 01328 700514
