Howick Hall Gardens

Northumberland break 12

This was a new find for me - Howick Hall Gardens and Arboretum - an extensive estate of delightfully lush planting, arranged in distinct zones. The Hall is the ancestral seat of the Earls Grey since 1319. And yes, Earl Grey tea is named after the 2nd Earl, Charles, who was Prime Minister from 1830-34. It was the 5th Earl and his family who created the beautiful gardens between 1920 and 2001. 

The gardens are huge and I only saw a fraction of them, but I very much enjoyed the informal, natural style of planting. The rhododendrons and azaleas were at their peak - stunning colours. I love the new pink leaves of the Pieris Japonica too: 

The Dicentra - Bleeding Heart plant - is aptly named:

Another vibrant azalea - and there were lots of candelabra primulas too:

There were also a few of the rare Himalayan blue poppies - Meconopsis - which I think are quite hard to grow successfully, needing cool, moist conditions with well-drained slightly acidic soil, which presumably Howick Hall provides. 

I was rather taken with this field of bright green, unfurling ferns:

By the bridge over to the church, a shrub - perhaps a hydrangea? - was insinuating its presence between the pillars. 

The present Hall itself was largely constructed in 1782 but was refitted internally after a devastating fire in the 1920s. Only a small part of the ground floor is open to visitors, as a tea room and information centre. The family still live in one wing of the property.