I had a mid-morning meeting in Harrogate which finished earlier than I expected so rather than come straight home I headed over to the gardens at RHS Harlow Carr for brunch and a walk round the lovely gardens.

It had been a cool start to the day with some drizzle in the air first thing, before becoming brighter later in the morning, with sunshine by noon. After passing through the visitor’s reception area, I headed down the slope behind the heather beds which looked extremely colourful being in full flower at the moment. The view looking over the gardens to the stream in the distance looked bright and quite vibrant for this time of year, many of the main borders although cut back were still in their dormant mode. The ‘new’ rockery in front of Betty’s restaurant was looking nicely established as I made my way down the slope to join the ‘winter walk’. The colours of the Dog Woods and Birch trees provided much of the vibrancy on this section of the garden, as well as the flowering Hellebores, Crocus, Snowdrops, and early flowering Daffodils. Many of the shrubs along this section of the walk are strongly scented including the Sarcococca with its delicate white flowers, the Viburnums and Wintersweet also fill the air with a sweet scent which will last through till April. Leaving the ‘Winter Walk’ I made my way up to the ‘Edwardian Garden’. A lot of work has been done along the terrace leading to the ‘Edwardian Garden’ in that an outdoor covered picnic area has been created on the left-hand side, the remaining border is currently barren and fenced off so I presume there will be more work to be done in this area. The area around the pond is quite dormant at the moment though lots of shoots are poking through and once the air and ground temperature warms up in the Spring, the area will be awash with colour.

After leaving ‘The Edwardian Garden’ I made my way down to the ‘Queen Mother’s Lake’, and over the ‘Thaliana Bridge’ you certainly see the lake from a different perspective as you make your way across the lake. Leaving the lake behind I followed ‘The Streamside Walk’ to the ‘Old Bath House’. Clumps of Hellebore and swathes of Snowdrops and miniature Iris provided a pleasant splash of colour, several different varieties of Daffodil were also coming into flower.

The weather was beginning to change a little as I made my way along the stream side, rolling dark clouds filled the air, I was expecting some rain but fortunately it held off and no sooner had the clouds arrived than the sun broke through and the blue sky returned. I always enjoy being close to water, so it was a very pleasant slow walk along side of the stream. Lots of work was being carried out on one of the stone bridges, it looks to have been stripped back with a large culvert fitted and work continues apace rebuilding the dry-stone wall over the stream. The newly established rock garden bordering the stream is looking more established on every visit. The area around ‘The Old Bath House’ was partly fenced off today due to some restructuring work around the house and Betty’s outdoor tea house. Although closed today the popular Japanese Shop (housed in the Bath House) will be opening on 29^th February till 5^th May, always a very colourful exhibition and shop.

I made my way round to Betty’s for a late brunch, it was very pleasant being able to sit outside, no sooner had I placed my cup of tea and sandwich on the table than a Robin came and sat on the chair opposite closely followed by a Blue Tit, they both enjoyed some pieces of crisp!

After my rest and refreshment, I made my way up the slope to the ‘Alpine House’ a lot of landscaping is being carried out in front of the house (South side) on the left hand side, so it will be good to see how it looks on my next visit, although access to the Alpine house was limited to the east door today, it is always nice, light, and airy. The landscaped beds are made from rock from a previous sandstone garden. Today there are over 2,000 plants which provide lots of interest, form, and shape. All are native to the mountainous areas from around the world. Today, many of the spring flowering bulbs were in flower along with some saxifrage, dionysias and primulas. From the Alpine house it is just a short walk to the garden centre, part of which is currently out of bounds due to improvements to the large glass house. After a browse around and a couple of small purchases it was time to head for home.