Beautiful gardens to visit this spring
Nature is starting to spring back to life and so are we, after months of greyness and rain. Bookmark these wonderful gardens around the countries as places to enjoy a day out filled with daffodils, tulips, magnolia and spring blossom. Currently, most are open to local visitors and those that aren't will reopen soon but do make sure you book ahead to avoid disappointment.
English Heritage1/9Belsay Hall
The Grecian-inspired Belsay Hall in Northumberland has a superbly romantic setting, with the unique quarry gardens providing interest throughout the year. Early spring brings out the deep blue glory-of-the-snow chionodoxa which graces the terraces as well as striped squill hyacinths with their pale blue flowers and dark blue stripes down each petal. Daffodils flower in abundance, providing a carpet of rich buttery yellow stretching far and wide across the gardens, while dog's tooth violets and spring snowdrops collect in snow-like drifts, bringing light to the darkened edges of the surrounding wood.
B6309, Newcastle upon Tyne NE20 0DX
©National Trust Images/ Justin Minns2/9Wimpole Estate
A visit to Cambridgeshire's Wimpole Estate and its gardens is just the thing to lift the spirits after a long winter. See glorious drifts of bright yellow daffodils, and breathe in their subtle floral scents. In the walled garden orchard, small snake's head fritillaries and tulips nod their heads in the breeze, awaiting the fall of blossom confetti from the fruit trees above.
Arrington, SG8 0BW
©National Trust Images/ Arnhel de Serra3/9Cragside
The gardens at Cragside in Northumberland offer a kaleidoscope of colour and scent. Blooms come in all shapes and sizes, from hyacinths, crocus and muscari to pansies, viola and wallflowers. The display of 8,500 tulips and daffodils is a highlight, carefully planted in swathes of bright colours by the garden team to recreate the Victorian style that Cragside's nineteenth century creators, Lord and Lady Armstrong, would have enjoyed.
Morpeth, NE65 7PX
English Heritage4/9Witley Court
Despite the devastating fire in 1937, Witley Court remains a fascinating historical site to explore, with spectacularly restored gardens surrounding the house. Spring is the perfect time to see camellias grow as you wander in the ruins of the orangery, while the wooded area of the ornamental walks is bursting with pink, purple, white and red rhododendrons, as well as magnolias and many ferns and bulbs including daffodils, bluebells and fritillaries. As well as the evergreen planting, the trees and shrubs in the garden come into leaf and the gardens are alive with an array of bird life.
Worcester Rd, Worcester WR6 6JT,
Reopening on March 29
©National Trust Images/ Jonathan Buckley5/9Sissinghurst Castle Garden
Daffodils start the season off in a flurry at Sissinghurst in Kent, dotted around Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West's world-famous garden. It was Harold who originally planted spring bulbs in their 'refuge dedicated to beauty', and the blooms begin to appear in early March. Spot daffodils in the orchard and drifts of tulips throughout the cottage garden, or wander across the estate to see carpets of bluebells. April visitors will see the magnolias beginning to bloom, bringing delicate colour to the surroundings.
Biddenden Rd, Cranbrook TN17 2AB
6/9Pencarrow
Boasting one of the most beautiful carpets of bluebells in Cornwall, Pencarrow estate offers an abundance of variety in garden styles. Alongside a formal garden and woodland there is an Italian sunken garden featuring a fountain and grotto. After the Snowdrop Sundays in February (celebrating the estate's snowdrops in aid of charity), Pencarrow's floral season truly begins with a dazzling display of camellias and over 600 varieties of rhododendrons which bloom through the spring.
Bodmin, PL30 3AG
Reopening on April 12
©National Trust Images/ Val Corbett7/9Sizergh Castle
Explore Sizergh to see original Lakeland daffodils carpeting the wildflower bank, while snakeshead fritillaria nod to the cherry blossom above in the small orchard. Dwarf daffodils and blue muscari nestle among the limestone in the rock garden and provide soft drifts of colour against the worn rock. The hives in the orchard are a-buzz with bees, while the National Trust team are hard at work in the kitchen garden sowing and propagating tasty produce destined for the café.
Sizergh, Kendal, LA8 8DZ
English Heritage8/9Brodsworth Hall
At the start of the season, Brodsworth in South Yorkshire is alive with colour. Daffodils, bluebells, aconites and 500,000 snowdrops adorn the wildflower lawns, and woodland floors provide a vivid reminder that spring has arrived. The Fern Dell's collection of dwarf bulbs begin to put on a show as the temperature rises with the magenta flowers of cyclamen poking through fresh new leaves, accompanied by irises around the cascade. As you enter the flower garden, 15,000 bedding plants including primula, erysium, polyanthus, forget-me-not, hyacinths, tulips and daffodils dazzle. Keep your eyes peeled for the odd early rose as rosa primula, in the rose dell, is a particularly early flower and a warm spring can inspire several to bloom before the end of May.
B6422, Brodsworth DN5 7XJ
©National Trust Images/ Stephen Robson9/9Knightshayes
With over 1200 plant species unique to the site, and riotous seasonal colour, the garden at Knightshayes in Devon is always worth a visit. In spring the woodland garden wakes up after a winter of rest and care from the National Trust garden team. With camellias, azaleas and magnolias all bursting into life amid carpets of daffodils, snowdrops and bluebells, this is when the garden begins to show its true colours.
Bolham, EX16 7RQ
