Alice in Wonderland

With it being school summer holiday time, the RHS gardens at Harlow Carr have a family garden trail, this year based on the story of Alice in Wonderland. There are things for children to find and activities to get involved in, as well as some enchanting bronze sculptures by the Robert James Workshop. I thought 'Alice' (below) was adorable. There was a little girl looking at her as I stopped to take my photo - and with the addition of a blue headband she could have been Alice herself. Being such a young child though, I thought it would be wrong to ask for a photo. 

'The Mad Hatter' was wildly pouring tea in the Diarmuid Gavin Garden, a space created originally for a BBC TV series 'Gardens Through Time' in 2004. In the background the trees were festooned with tea cups and saucers. 

'The Cheshire Cat', trapped in a cage but still grinning madly, looked to me rather more rat-like than cat-like. 

In the woodland I came across a distorting mirror, which I assume was part of the Wonderland trail. So I went 'through the looking glass' myself and ended up a good deal shorter and wider than I really am... Yikes! Thank goodness it was only a mirror and I didn't have to drink any potion to return to my normal size!