Thursday 26 July 2018

York Gate Garden, Leeds

Recently I discovered the existence of a little gem.  A little gem of a garden, York Gate Garden in Adel (rhymes with paddle) near Leeds.  If there's one thing William and I both enjoy it's taking a peak round a pretty garden so a couple of weeks ago on a very sunny day we were in for a treat when we paid a visit to York Gate Garden.



The website directions said to park in a lay-by opposite Adel Parish Church and follow the path through the church yard which would lead eventually to York Gate Garden.


This church dating back to the 12th century has a lot of interesting features not least of all the crosses marked in the flags.  William and I had never seen that before in any other church.  Maybe it's a feature unique to this church?  I looked for information on the church website but didn't find any mention of the path.  Perhaps I missed it and need to go back and check again.



This was  our first glimpse of the garden and I knew straight away it was something special.



Covering just one acre the garden is a series of "rooms", one leading artfully to the next.



Every which way we turned there was a feast for the eyes.




Neither of us knows the names of half the plants we see, we just like what we see and that's enough for us.




Pretty dahlias amongst an array of orange and yellow blooms.




Very pretty dahlias.  I loved the orange/yellow colours against the dark foliage.


This was my favourite view in the garden. That young man is the official gardener and the rest of the team is made up of volunteers.  They don't half do a good job between them.


Lots and lots of different trees and shrubs.




This is the Canal Garden. Just beautiful. There were fish in there as well as water lilies.


My cup was overflowing when we turned a corner and came across the most varied and colourful, healthy display of succulent plants I've ever had the pleasure to behold.


Love all these succulents, they are probably my favourite plants of all time.




The herb garden.




The house once occupied by the Spencer family now functions as offices and tea rooms.  




A lovely spot to eat lunch or afternoon tea but it was just too hot outdoors  This heatwave we're having is a joy but this English rose cannot sit under a burning hot sun so we took refuge in the tearooms where we ...





.. tucked into home made scones and jam.  Delicious!



Before we left we took a look in the gift shop.  York Gate once a family owned garden is now run by the horticulturists charity Perrenial.  The stock is naturally all garden related and we purchased a couple of cute items.  Oh, and before we looked in the shop we took another twirl around the garden.  That was how much we had enjoyed everything the garden had to offer.


My pictures of this amazing "little" garden don't do it justice at all.  The beauty of this garden really has to be seen in person to be truly appreciated.  I can't wait to go back again!