Barnsdale Gardens

After leaving Sissinghurst, we started the trek northward, though we really weren't going all that far.  We stopped first at Bishop's Stortford, which is the ancestral home of  my dad's family.  It struck me as odd that I never associated them with Tudor England, though I've done extensive family research over the years, and was fully aware that they left England in the early 1600's.   Something that really "hit me over the head" on this trip was the association with the political scene in England at the time both sides of my family chose to leave to make a new life in what would later become New England.

We were going to be staying at Knapwell Woods Farm (another great B & B, just outside Cambridge) for a couple of days, and one of the "must see" places nearby is Barnsdale Gardens, which is the nursery/garden center started by Geoff Hamilton.  As I've said earlier, some of these garden centers are simply incredible, and Barnsdale is definitely not an exception to that statement!  More than 30 fully-designed and planted display areas, to give the consumer an idea of what it will all look like when it's put together.  What is particularly nice is that they are each the size of a small city lot, not a huge country property.

 This first one convinced Frank that we need a greenhouse at home. 

I really liked this arbor, apples on one side, pears on the other.

Another distinctive blue used as an accent color, this type for beehives in a giant bed of anemones. (Makes me feel better about the color choice for my "not shed" door at home.)

The Mediterranean Garden, below.

A really striking knot/water garden......with minor plant modifications, this seemed a pretty "typical" Charleston/Atlanta look that could easily be duplicated (with a high maintenance schedule in mind).

After all of that, imagine my delight when I saw this "simple" hanging basket outside our quarters at Knapwell Wood Farm!