After a busy week, it was nice to get out with Jenny for a visit to the gardens at RHS Harlow Carr near Harrogate.

The weather forecast for today looked good, a dry day with warm sunshine all day. There was a ‘Summer Garden Event’ on this weekend so plenty to see (and buy).

It was an early start today, being out with the dogs just after 6.00am, on returning home it was a quick shower, change of clothes and we left for Harrogate at 8.30am arriving at 9.30am, fortunately the car parks at the grounds were being managed this weekend due to the extra volume of traffic. We got parked up without any issues relatively close to the main entrance and made our way into Bettys for a coffee and breakfast before our walk round the site.

Suitably refreshed, we left the booking office and I stopped for a few moments to admire the view from the top of the stone steps looking across to the Summerhouse and Streamside walk. The colour palette changes every month and gives you a pretty good idea on what to expect as you walk around these lovely gardens. We followed our usual clockwise walk, heading for the ‘Learning Centre’. Gazebos had been pitched on the lawns with small nursery’s selling plants and various types of garden furniture. The rose borders at the end of ‘Betty’s restaurant’ and around the library were awash with colour. The lawns around the ‘QM lake’ had been left to grow and were full of Creeping Buttercup and Greater Spotted Orchids to name just a couple of the wildflowers hidden amongst the long grass. Several parties of young school children were on field trips today and busily looking in the pond adjacent to the ‘Teaching Garden’. We continued past them and headed over to the ‘Sunken Edwardian Garden’.  Lots of colour in here today. We continued over the ‘Tiormina Bridge’ and followed ‘the Streamside Walk to the ‘Old Bath House’, The Blue Himalayan Poppies looked a picture in the dappled sunlight. More planting and landscaping had been carried out around the newly refurbished bridge. A little further on the Candelabra Primulas, looked bright and vibrant, the colours, oranges, reds, yellows, looked absolutely beautiful set against the ferns and other plants along the stream side path. On reaching the ‘Old Bath House’ we called in to Betty’s Tea House for a cup of tea and lunch. The sun was beating down, and the thermometer gauge was reading 21c so it was very pleasant sitting outside and under the shade of the canopy. After our brunch we headed back to the streamside footpath and walk along the opposite side, the Candelabra Primulas, and Blue Himalayan Poppies and Irises looked stunning. We continued our walk, up the slope to the Sandstone Rock Garden, the Sea Holly and Pink Poppies looked amazing in full bloom. From here it is just a short walk up to the top footpath, where we headed back to the tented area of the garden show for another browse before our journey home. A very pleasant day.