Roses In Wonderland ...

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. We had a lovely time despite the weather. From the minute Mr Roses stopped worked on Wednesday evening until yesterday afternoon, the sun disappeared and went to shine elsewhere and we almost gave up hope of spending any time outdoors at all. However, we crammed in as much as possible in between all the chocolate eating and, well, I was going to show you what we got up to in chronological order and save the best till last, but hey ho, how could I hide these spring-filled photos from you for any longer. We'll come back to grey skies on another day.



So yesterday we decided to go out whatever the weather. In search of blue skies, open spaces and flowers...



Having driven all the way over to Batemans (more on that another post) it felt silly not to take advantage of being only half an hour away from here:



One of my favourite places to visit. The last time we visited Sissinghurst was a few years ago at the end of summer. The garden was beautiful and the place worked its magic ....



This time I must admit to worrying that I would be disappointed at seeing the place again so early in Spring. Having watched the TV series, read the book, worn the T shirt etc I kept my fingers crossed.



Well I was not disappointed. I felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, discovering a true Spring wonderland that left me grinning like the cheshire cat for the rest of the day.



Once again we climbed the Tower, taking in Vita's study (what a wonderful, wonderful room) and gazed across the gardens and surrounding land in amazement.



Seen from above,



the gardens were just unbelievably tempting.



Each with its own individual character.



Close up,



in detail they were stunning.



The beauty of the brickwork allowed to shine alongside the climbing plants.



Carpets of flowers



Blankets



of bulbs



Beauty on a large scale



The famous white garden beginning to bloom



Lovely to read and see that new projects are moving ahead at Sissinghurst too



and we're so looking forward to returning in a couple of months to see the developments.



How could you fail not to be moved and optimistic after seeing all this?



My garden seemed unnaturally small when we came home and the 100 bulbs I planted the other week seemed very few in number but I didn't feel dejected.



The joy that Vita Sackville West and Harold Nicolson shared in their garden is hugely infectious and whilst I know I will never achieve a lot of what I saw, my head is brimming full of colour schemes and planting ideas - just need a white rabbit to take me back there a bit more often.