Enchanted Woodland: A Garden At Night

What a treat.  A night time walk in an enchanted garden, full of light, shadow, glimpses of majestic trees and other delights.  I couldn’t think of anything that could be more charming.

After dressing for the Arctic, we were stuck in London Friday night traffic for 50 minutes on our way there and my 7 year old decided that it really was a waste of time. He much rather be watching his favourite TV programmes.  Great start to our night trip to Syon Park in Isleworth to visit their ‘Enchanted Woodland’.  But please don’t worry, from the time he saw the search lights from the garden in the sky and even the  lights from the under belly of the planes en route to Heathrow, to meeting his friends, his excitement could hardly be contained.

There is no doubt that there is something very magical about a garden, particularly a large garden, at night.  This time of year we all tend to hibernate come dusk.  Night time trips are quite rare for my son.  Although I am all for wrapping up and getting outside there aren’t many winter evenings when we actually manage it.

I have visited the garden at Syon Park quite a few times, but never in the dark.  The Enchanted Woodland had come highly recommended and it did live up to all expectations.

The garden was full of coloured lights of all shapes, sizes and types.  The reflections from the lit up trees in the water of the lake were simply quite stunning.  The route around the garden was about a mile.  It took us over an hour and a half, such was the level of interest from everyone.



 

There were constant delights for the children.  One of their favourites was the Dragons Den with its very own sound effects.

 



A large shadow screen held all our attention for quite some time.  What a good idea. I have never done this outdoors before.  We could also view other families shadows from the other side of the lake, very spooky and surreal.



The tree and their structures were not the only ones lit up.  The children enjoyed being seen in different colours as well.

This children named this little display jurassic cove.  It really did look prehistoric and gunnera leaves next door helped to set the scene.

 

 

The crowning glory of Syon Park Gardens in most definitely the Great Conservatory.  Our winter walk ended there with a tasteful light show and music.  The children had a dance, while the adults sat around mesmerised by the effect of the light and sound on this magnificent structure.  Our evening was then topped off by that winter essential -  mugs of hot chocolate. Perfection.

 

If anyone else has visited I would love to hear their views?  Are there any other similar events taking place in other areas of the country, because it really was a rather magical evening.

 

I am linking up this post with Learning for Life where you can find out what other families have been up to outdoors. 

 



Signs of Spring: Snowdrops and Hearts

A wander around a snow drop garden in February is an uplifting experience. I was lucky enough to do just that recently. The venue was Brandy Mount Gardens in Alresford, Hampshire. It holds national collections of snowdrops and daphnes, as well as growing other early flowering plants such as aconites and witch hazel.



Daphne



It was a joy to see and I hope that everybody this year manages to spy some snowdrops. They are growing in the hedgerows in Dorset. There are many gardens holding special snowdrop openings this time of year for the National Gardens Scheme. Well worth a visit if you can make it.

For access to the garden we had to park the car at a local Lavender Farm. So one of the unexpected benefits of the visit was a little bit of retail therapy with lots of lovely lavender and garden products. These hearts made from Lavender looked stunning. I made myself a promise to return to the farm in the summer when I am sure that the lavender fields will look equally stunning.

Snow and Ice Activities: Making Ice Sculptures with Children

The cold weather has provided us with a great opportunity to make some lovely ice sculptures this week. We were reminded about them when one formed naturally from water left a sand mould in my son’s sand and water table. I photographed the result above.

So the next evening the remaining moulds were washed and the craft box delved into. We also took a few flowers from the garden and used some fir cones and acorns. The resulting tray of sculptures were then placed outside. Alas that night it didn’t freeze, but this morning we the jackpot with five beautiful sculptures. It is very cold today so hoping that some of them will survive.

We did learn a few things along the way, which I hope will help you if you try them.

• We placed string and ribbon in two of them which meant they could be tied onto a line. This really helps them to catch the light and they can easily be seen from the house. So I would recommend you do that with all your sculptures. The ribbon sculpture stayed on the line longer than the string one.

• Make your moulds close to an outside door as they are not the easiest to transport. We had placed ours outside we had to top them up with water.

• Place them close to the house because your children are likely to want to keep popping out to check on them. They are more likely to freeze if just placed a little away from walls and other frost protection.

• Do not fill them with too many objects, as the transparency is one of the best things about them.

You don’t have to use moulds. Tonight we are going to experiment with plastic cups, saucers, food dye, and also try and make our own icicles.

A Christmas Star from the Garden



Christmas Star

Last spring when I cut back my dogwood in the front garden I had good intentions.  I knew that the lovely red stems which had brightened up the garden all winter long could be put to further use.  I hadn't expected it to take me quite so long to use them.  Last weekend we brought the holly and other foliage in from the garden and settled down to decorate the house. This year the holly has produces loads of berries and the blackbirds have been feeding off them.  I have therefore decided no twigs with berries in the house this year.  They are to be left in the garden for the birds to feast from.   So the dogwood star we have made provides us with some festive red.



A bunch of Dogwood Stems



Dogwood

We started with the bunch of stems and then cut nine lengths of the same size.  We then tied triple stems to from a triangle.  It would have been lovely to use the red raffia.  However for my six year, and also myself, it was far too difficult connecting all the pieces of twigs whist trying to tie.  Our solution was to use red rubber bands.  After making another triangle all we needed to do was to attach the two together and our star was born.

We hope you like it. Other flexible stems could also be used, especially those from willows. Merry Christmas.  Hope you manage to bring some of your garden into the house this holiday.  And I don't mean mud!



Late Winter Blooms

Joe Swift had an article in this Saturday's Times listing his garden highlights for this time of year. It got me thinking and looking in my garden to see what I would list. Well there is not a lot of growth and colour yet. Your list may well be longer. My favourite and a new addition to my garden is cyclamen coum. I choose a white one with a silver leaf called 'Maurice Dryden' and I am really pleased with the colour and reflection it is providing.

I have several types of crocuses in the garden. I like my crocuses just before they are to burst open, as in the photo. I also have blue primulas in flower and a Cornus alba (Dogwood), just one but the red stems are very effective against my front brick wall.

The final star in the garden is left over from last year. Some of the lovely silky seedheads from the Clematis ‘Bill Mackenzie’ which I am leaving draped over a variegated holly hoping to provide the birds with some great nesting materials.

Lynda