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Garden Blog – Didn’t we have a lovely time the day we went to…..

It can sometimes be quite a job knowing what to do with visitors, can’t it?  We were in just that situation recently and decided to take them to the National Botanic Garden of Wales.  Our visitors live in Essex so they don’t get to Wales all that often and we thought it would be nice to have a day out at the Garden.  It was Bank Holiday Monday, and we did wonder whether it was such a good idea but the weather was lovely, apart from a ‘bracing’ wind, so we went along and were very glad that we did.

There were lots of activities including a craft fair, maypole dancing, the Quack Pack, juggling and a conjurer.  There was music too and all these things made for a lovely atmosphere.  Put that together with beautiful flowers and plants and you have the perfect day out.  The sunshine helped of course and the fact that we were holiday makers.  The trouble with being a volunteer at the Botanic Garden is that you don’t always appreciate things from a visitors’ point of view.  You have to make an effort to go on a visit that doesn’t include doing some work so that you can take your time and enjoy just being there.

We started off by walking up the Broadwalk, rather than take the buggy, and were rewarded with the view of the bluebells over by the Ice House.  I hadn’t thought of them being there but they were and they were beautiful.   Then we had to stop at Scaladaqua Tonda to try the echo spot and look at the Dawn Redwoods with their bright new leaves.  Next was the Circle of Decision – which way to go here – we went into the bog garden and admired all that was growing there and then continued up towards the Great Glass House.  That was a big hit with our visitors.  It was out of the wind but still has that out-of-doors feel to it.  The flowers in there at this time of year are great.  We were glad our cameras are digital otherwise the film and processing would have cost a fortune.  Well if you see something as beautiful as a King Protea you just have to photograph it.  There were lovely things to buy on the craft stalls as well if you felt so inclined.  After lunch we went on the train and admired the view of the slate beds from the other side of the lake.  We were running out of time so we walked back down via the double walled garden (our guests were amazed at the ‘pop bottle’ greenhouse) and the tropical house.  Then we visited the Japanese garden and the bees before our final call at the Café in Plant Sales.  We had had such a lovely day and were conscious that we still hadn’t seen everything.  There was so much more that we could have shown our visitors but hope that it will be an incentive to come and visit us again soon.

Pam Murden