Silver Bells And Cockle Shells

Don't know about anywhere else, but Autumn's finally arrived in Gloucestershire. Despite the sunshine and unseasonably green trees, there's a definite nip to the air.

Packing my bags and heading off on retreat to the Northamptonshire countryside tomorrow. Lot of writing to get done. Before I go, I thought I'd take a trip down Memory Lane. We've visited some beautiful gardens this year. If you visit the Nature in Art museum at Twigworth, they have the most incredible painting as you go up the main staircase. It's a spiral, starting in the middle with a snowdrop and circling out to the edges, depicting every type of flower imaginable as the seasons progress.

Visiting gardens throughout the year, I feel a little as though I've lived that painting.

Started off in February with Colesbourne Park, which opens each year for the snowdrops. They have around eighty different species. You can read more about it in my post, here.

Ice house at Colesbourne Park

Shortly afterwards we went to the Rococo Gardens at Painswick. More pictures here.

Snowdrops at the Rococo Gardens

In June we went on a sculpture trail at Quenington, in the Cotswolds.

Triffid at Old Sodbury.

In July we visited Old Sodbury (a delightfully West Country name!) for more sculpture and unusual plants.

I apologise for my cack-handed photography - it's based on enthusiasm rather than skill.

In September we headed to Wyck Rissington.

Church at Wyck Rissington. Impressive roof, strange mosaic.

Dad's an avid gardener. The flowers in the first picture are from his own garden. I think they grow so well due to the company he keeps:

Buddha

Green Men who watch over the garden.

Edinburgh's over, Cheltenham Literature Festival's through, the garden is fallow for winter. It feels like the right time to remove myself to a quiet place and write.