Hestercombe II

This has been a while coming, but here's the next installment of new camera at Hestercombe, yay!

See my previous post for some explanation of what Hestercombe is. I went with the lovely Niall.

View down into the formal garden from the round pond (with a Niall in)

Niall's photo, up into the water feature

False orange blossom, it smells lovely

Balustrade + Japanese anemones

A long rhene edged with stone

Lovely red Virginia creeper

More lovely creeper overhead

The central part of the formal garden, from above

Lovely echinops & a well-weathered bench

All my photos from Hestercombe can be found in my Flickr set. These were all taken on my new Canon Ixus 105!

Hestercombe I

Back in September the lovely Niall came down at the weekend and we had a little expedition to Hestercombe. There's a house and gardens but the house is private. The gardens are split into two parts; the landscaped valley and the formal terraced garden. I've been there plenty of times as it's near my house but Niall hadn't so we explored pretty thoroughly.

On the day we were there there was a "family" event going on. This meant that on one of the lawns there were a few stalls selling "gifts", a Punch & Judy show, a falconry display(with uncooperative birds), and a tent full of tasty local cheese, cider & similar products. We enjoyed the latter the most...

There are lots of walls like this

An old mill with a waterwheel

A swan in the mill pond

And pretty views.

Landscape gardens are generally cleverly built so that there are lots of constructed views. You can sit in a little Grecian temple and admire a carefully composed segment of landscape.

The swan the right way up.

Another, more tranquil pond

Wayfaring Tree, which we thought might be related to red currants

Nice view through the trees

And back up the valley

And that's enough for now, formality next time I think...

All my photos from Hestercombe can be found in my Flickr set. These were all taken on my new Canon Ixus 105!

Rosemoor On Film II

The third installment of a family trip to RHS garden Rosemoor in North Devon. The first post can be found here and the second here.
These photos were taken on Fuji Superia X-tra 400 (although possibly shot with my camera set to 100 still).


Peacock butterfly

Gunnera (giant rhubarb) by the pond

Tomato 'Tigerella'


Lovely-looking apples, being used as edging in the kitchen garden

A trailing plant looking picturesque in a stone pot

Some rather amazingly coloured bark

A pink dahlia in the shop

These photos were all taken using my Pentax ME Super. All of my Rosemoor photos (film & digital) can be found here.

Rosemoor On Film I

The second installment of a family trip to RHS garden Rosemoor in North Devon. The first post can be found here.
The first half of these photos are taken on Fuji Superia Reala 100 and the second half on Fuji Superia X-tra 400 (although possibly shot with my camera set to 100 still).


Purple clematis in the Queen Mother's Rose Garden

A rather tame little robin

Rosehips on the roll end (the start of the new one)


Bee-covered white flowers

A lovely purple agapanthus

A very vivid dahlia in the hot coloured garden


Ruby chard in the cottage garden

Echinacea & a bee

Cornflowers and marigolds

These photos were all taken using my Pentax ME Super. All of my Rosemoor photos (film & digital) can be found here.

A Roll'a Reala, again.

But a different one! Taken during August I believe.
Some sunny summery things (Lynmouth & Rosemoor shots on this roll will appear in later posts)


Cauliflower salad on the kitchen worktop.

Echinops & a bee in the back garden.

Angelica seedheads in the back garden.


Pretty light on a plant beside the road.

Catty lazing in the shade of Mum's willow hedge.

Sweet chestnut leaves looking autumnal early.

Clematis climbing out of focus.

All my photos can be found here. I have specific sets for my ME Super, and for types of film. These are all on Fuji Superia Reala 100.

Rosemoor

A family day trip to RHS Garden Rosemoor near Great Torrington in North Devon.
Mum wanted to see the William Morris exhibition so we all went along, and didn't realise that the exhibition closed earlier than the garden; we missed it. Fail. Mum & Kate went back on our way home from Cornwall though so she got to see it in the end.

We also saw a rather amazing feat of knitting in a marquee on one of the lawn terraces. There was everything you could imagine in a sea scene, including a life-size mermaid and a lifeboat! Those who know me will know that I am a keen (but not overly skilled) crocheter who normally has several projects under way at once.

There are lots of different bits of the garden which showcase how good the RHS is at everything. There were some rose gardens at the top full of lovely smelling specimens. We also spotted a little mouse in a flowerbed! He didn't seem to mind us being there, but was a bit put out when Dad poked him with the umbrella...
My favourite bits were the kitchen garden (such amazing fruit & veg!), the cottage garden (I think I prefer informal planting, to use horticultural terms!) and the hot coloured garden (can't remember the official name) which is planted with lots of orange, red and yellow.


Black Eyed Susans from above, reminding me strongly of 60s wallpaper.


And from below.


One of many rather nice dahlias.

Some ladies taking in the view of the hot coloured garden.

Echinacea in the cottage garden.

A lovely peacock butterfly on the best coloured kind of lilac.


A blue hydrangea down by the pond/lake.

A gourd hiding in the kitchen garden.

A rain-spotted but vibrant dahlia in the shop.

Again I suffered from the frustrations of the Kodak CX7350 and took more on film, which will be posted at a later date. I should soon be getting another little compact digital camera to play with though. Hurrah! I'd rather like to go back for a more relaxed visit on a sunnier day, it's a shame it's so hard to get to.

More (and soon to be film) in my Rosemoor set on Flickr.