Whisley glasshouse

It certainly is the pinnacle, I saw it in full bloom earlier this year and the sheer scale and length of it is stunning. My photos couldn't do it justice.

Being on our doorstep we pop there when we have a spare hour or two. There is always something new to see. I was amazed that the glasshouse is now 10 years old, time flies. Over the summer they have drastically pruned some of the taller plants in the Temperate Zone as they were hitting the glass!

 

The Turquoise is exquisite but looked artificial when I reviewed my photos. Peter's photo is better in colour balance terms than what I took. I will have to try better next year.

 

The whole garden has evolved out of all recognition over the years we have lived nearby. To begin with it was a bit snobby and very child unfriendly, but gradually they have welcomed families and now have a play area and education centre just for the kids. They used to ban picnics, you weren't even supposed to take a flask of tea in.

Now they are a victim of their own success as it gets very busy at weekends. You probably wouldn't like the glasshouse butterfly event in Jan/Feb, I like seeing the butterflies but it gets too crowded and one year we had an half hour queue to get in.

The best thing they have done over the last couple of years in my opinion is create the new rose garden. In place of the old rose garden they have a new Exotic Garden , did you find that @PeterS ? It's on the way to the hill top and trials area. It is newly planted and will need a couple of years to establish. I wonder if they have wrapped everything up for the winter now.

Over the years they have moved their exotic garden to 3 other positions, it used to be in the walled garden but that was a frost pocket so only the very hardiest survived.

I find these changes quite fascinating as it reflects what a lot of us do, well me in particular, keep moving our plants around to find the best position - albeit on a much smaller scale.

I always pay a visit to their veg plot to compare theirs with mine, usually I'm a bit envious of their plants.

The other place I try and visit regularly is the small show gardens, they give an idea of what you can do in a small space.

 

Wow you were lucky to get a personal tour especially by someone that knows the place.