The glory of the garden

Here is a selection of the photos I took of individual plants at the Himalayan Garden. The magnolias were beautiful. They seem to have largely avoided frost damage this year, perhaps due to the late arrival of spring. 

Rhododendrons are the star of the show, and there were more colours and varieties than I've ever seen anywhere before.

Some of the juxtapositions were inspired, like this bright yellow tree against the showy red rhododendron.

Himalayan blue poppies, which I've also seen at Harlow Carr, are apparently quite difficult to grow but seem to be getting established here as well. 

I'm not sure what any of the plants below are, but I though it an attractive grouping. 

And of course, cherry blossom and our native British bluebells are welcome signs of spring.

Kath Khuni Shelter

The Kath Khuni Shelter is a recent addition to the Himalayan Garden - and I loved it. It replicates the indigenous architecture of the Himachal Pradesh region of Northern India and Tibet. These buildings are unique to that area, using local materials held together by wooden tenon and mortices, with rubble-filled walls that will flex to withstand earthquakes. They have layered courses of wood and stone, a slate roof and are decorated with carvings. The garden's shelter has layers of cedar, stone and slate and its 100 year old ornamental balcony has been sourced from India. The detail was beautiful and the shelter has already started to weather very attractively. 

More Himalayan Garden sculpture

The sculptures around the Himalayan Garden are eye-catching. Here are some I particularly liked.
Above is Samara (Rebecca Newnham) - made of glass over a fibreglass and steel body, and based on the helical flight of a sycamore seed.

Above is Ribbon Red (left) and Red Scarf (right), both by Carol Peace.

Below is The Swift (Hamish Mackie).

And finally, below: Pinnacle (Giles Raynor) - a copper spiral fountain around which water spins. 

Sculptures in the gardens

The Himalayan Garden (see also yesterday) holds over 60 contemporary sculptures, which add another layer to the delightful experience of wandering the paths and exploring the planting. There are several red oriental-style bridges and a Balinese pagoda. The red of the bridges is echoed by a red fibreglass sculpture called 'Wave' (Rebecca Newnham), which has earned the lake the nickname of the Nessie Lake, after the Loch Ness monster! There are also some rather attractive twisted metal fountains.

The Stone Circle (Barry Bain and Peter Roberts) is reminiscent of the ancient 'henges' that can be found across Britain. This one is made from decorative stones and old gateposts, some with the metal gate hinges still attached.

John Simpson's Fir Cone is a ten foot tall construction of Welsh slate, standing proud on the hillside.

Other sculptures are almost hidden around the gardens, nestled into the plants, like the bronze Tribal Head (Patricia Volk).

Himalayan Garden

On the recommendation of some friends, I made a visit to the rather well-kept secret of the Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park, up in Nidderdale, near Ripon. It's a 20 acre private woodland garden belonging to Peter and Caroline Roberts. Over the past 20 years they have created, more or less from scratch, a specialist collection of Himalayan rhododendrons and azaleas, along with other plants, trees and sculptures. It is only open to the public for a few weeks in the spring and autumn and is quite hidden away, tucked in a maze of narrow lanes, but it really is a gem of a place. I took loads of photos, though it's one of those places where a photo barely does justice to the scene.

Their rather grand house sits on a hill overlooking the wooded valley, which has several lakes and streams, affording lovely reflections and meandering paths. (The coloured discs, like lily pads, in the lake are a sculpture by Rebecca Newnham - though to be quite honest I thought they rather spoiled the lake! There were many other pieces scattered throughout the garden that I much preferred.)

The garden is still being developed and a large area has recently been planted as an arboretum, with native British trees and some more unusual species. That area runs down the hillside into a rather pretty bluebell wood by a lake.

You can take a virtual tour of the gardens via the website: https://www.himalayangarden.com/garden-sculpture-park/virtual-garden-tour/