Winter gardens

Even though it has its brave stands of leeks and the brassica bed is lush and green, the allotment does not look at its best in January.There are not yet any signs of spring on the way and every thing looks grey and downtrodden in the wet.

Time to raise the spirits with a visit to places which come into their own in the winter. My own outside space might be looking sorry for itself, but the winter garden at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden (above) sings with colour at this time of year and the winter walk at Anglesey Abbey (below) is at its most spectacular, And happily they are just a few miles apart and easily visitable in the same day.

Despite the rain, the colours of Anglesey Abbey's Winter Walk are vibrant

Relatively underplanting beneath Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire' hides the less colouful main stems. The silvery stems of Rubus thibetanus 'Silver Fern' make the beds look as though they have been sprinkled with frosting.

Contrats in form and colour with conifers and grasses at Cambridge University Botanic Garden.

The venerable Pyrus communis 'Pitmaston Duchess' espalier at Anglesey Abbey

The sun came out in the afternoon, bringing some welcome warmth to the woodland paths at Anglesey Abbey

Details
Cambridge University Botanic Garden
1, Brookside, Cambridge CB2 1JE
Open 10.00am-4.00pm January; 10.00am-5.00pm, February and March; 10.00am-6.00pm April to September.
Admission price: Adults: £5.00, concessions: £4.50; children under 16: free

Anglesey Abbey
Anglesey Abbey, gardens, and Lode Mill, Cambridgeshire, CB25 9EJ
Garden open 10.30am-4.30pm January to March; 10.0am-5.30pm April to October
Admission price gardens and mill: Adults: £7.10; children: £3.75

Great Dixter: a riot of colour

The wonderfully bold, lush gardens at Great Dixter look beautiful at any time of the year, but perhaps especially so at this time of this year, towards the end of an elongated summer with the air still full of warmth and the plants at full maturity. I was lucky enough to be visit on a gorgeous fine day last week.

A view of the oast house (sadly long out of use) from a corner of the sunken garden.

One of my favourite views, through the blue garden into the wall garden. I defy anyone to resist squeezing through the gap and exploring up the steps.

The impressively espaliered pear tree against the wall of the house in the blue garden (just visible in the top right in the previous picture). The Gunnera manicata in front of it is growing happily in a giant pot.

The seasonally-changing pot display in the wall garden is dominated by deep reds and brilliant yellows at present.

This is how to grow pumpkins on a compost heap - it helps if your heap is around 10 feet high.

A sneaky peek into the sunken garden from the meadow in front of the main entrance to the house. Great Dixter has many of these tantalising glimpses into its many gardens.

There are a couple of disused wells in the grounds, which now form stunning planters.

The main entrance to the house, which dates back to the mid-15th century, flanked by a mass of containers of lush flowers and those reds and yellows again.

Since the death of Christopher Lloyd, the owner of the Great Dixter estate, in 2005, the house and gardens have become a charitable trust, with the gardens  still overseen by Fergus Garrett, who devised the innovative and influential planting schemes alongside Lloyd.

The nursery, which sells many of the varieties grown in the gardens, is open all the year round. The house and gardens will reopen from March 28th 2015.

Further info from www.greatdixter.co.uk/