As welcome as the flowers in spring…

Early April…as welcome as the flowers in spring Photo: Artemisia

If spring flowers are something you welcome, then now is your time and Chadkirk is a place to enjoy them.

Celandines and wood anemones light up the slopes. As April moves along they are giving way to the next wave of woodland flowers.

In early April, the odd bluebell in flower, then a brushstroke of blue under the trees of Little Wood, followed by a scattering on the higher slopes of Kirk Wood. Now is their time and the bluebells give the woodland floor that special zing. Azure blue and the freshest of greens delight the eye. Today, the scent spreading through the woodland as the sunlight warmed the slopes. Sweetness of bluebells with the suggestion of something more a tangy as the wild garlic leaves hint at the flowers to come. Today, a sign of spring’s vibrant response to the warm weather, as an early wild garlic flower raises it’s head, perhaps a month ahead of last year’s flowering cycle.

As the wild flowers move through their succession of colours and forms, there’s also much to enjoy in the flowers of the Walled Garden and the area around the Chapel. The gardening team have cultivated a variety of plants which offer visitors a rich and interesting mix to be savoured.

Photo: Artemisia

If your own garden cannot accommodate a magnolia or a fruit tree you can revel in their blossom during this time at Chadkirk.

The view from the new footpath. Photo: Artemisia