Snowdrops and other delights at Doddington Hall 2026 (part two)

Here are more photos from the visit to Doddington Hall last weekend.  

I do enjoy photos where you are looking through door or gates or hedges.

Here is a close up of the rhododendron which you can just see in the middle of the previous photo.

It is such a peaceful place.

This is looking at the back of the house, and there will be lots of bearded irises in flower here later in the Spring.  Look at that blue sky - something we haven't seen that much of this dull, grey, wet winter.

We saw a single iris, probably a reticulata, which was just going over, but which had very painterly stripes.

Around the ancient sweet chestnut trees (at least 450 years old), there were more crocuses, early daffodils, cyclamen and snowdrops.

Those trees are incredible.

The crocuses were loving the sunshine.

Back in the kitchen garden, the bug hotel 'sculptures' were looking good.

These birch tree trunks had been drilled to provide more insect homes - perhaps for solitary bees.  They made a striking feature too.

It was a lovely visit and the weather made it so much more enjoyable.

Snowdrops and other delights at Doddington Hall 2026 (part one)

Last Saturday, when it wasn't raining and there was some lovely winter sunshine, we set off to Doddington Hall, just outside Lincoln, to see their snowdrops and other plants.  We had a slow journey due to an accident on a main road, which meant we had to go round the villages just like everyone else.  However, we got there and enjoyed our look round.  Above was from the kitchen garden and I liked the grasses and seedheads which hadn't been cut down yet.    

They looked lovely with the sun on them.

We headed off into the gardens and there were large drifts of snowdrops, together with crocuses, enjoying the sun too.

So beautiful!

There were also Leucojum (Spring Snowflakes), looking like giant snowdrops...

...and cyclamen coum.

The snowdrops were the stars.

Around the corner wafted the most delicious scent, which was coming from this Daphne. 

Views across the gardens were lovely.

Some early rhododendrons were in flower.

The foliage of this Arum italicum marmoratum is stunning, although this plant is poisonous.

The white stems of the bramble (Rubus Cockburnianus) shone out across the grass, completely overshadowing the wire unicorn sculpture.

More to come in part two. 

Snowdrops and other delights - part two

While I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the snowdrops on our visit, Doddington Hall gardens have some lovely vistas, like this, looking up to the house.

I am always intrigued by views through gates and doorways - what is around that corner?  You can just make out a rhododendron in flower.

Imposing gateways leading to more formal areas near the house.

A view looking the other way, down to the eyecatcher in the distance.

This little corner caught my eye with the mossy tree and the snowdrops and cyclamen leaves nestled beneath.

I managed to capture a slice of spring here with early daffodils, snowdrops, cyclamen coum, and pulmonaria.  There will also be a primrose or primula soon.

In the kitchen garden, we were impressed by these sculptural bug hotels which we are going to copy, possibly in a slightly smaller form, up at our allotment.

This water bowl would be another nice idea up there too.   We thoroughly enjoyed our visit, which ended, as all garden visits should, with tea and cake!

Snowdrops and other delights - part one

I love to see snowdrops, as they are the heralds of Spring and a sign that winter is nearly over (and one of my favourite flowers).  I visited the little churchyard in the city last week and enjoyed a few minutes of peace, listening to the birds singing and enjoying just wandering amongst the trees. 

The aconites were also in flower.

It was another dull and grey day, but still lovely.  You can read about previous visits here and here.

Last Sunday, Chris and I collected our friend Alison and we headed out to Doddington Hall to get another snowdrop fix.  We have visited for their snowdrops before, here. We also visited last year for the sculpture event here, here and the gardens here.  We were lucky with the weather as we actually had some sunshine.

There were other plants such as cyclamen coum...

..vividly coloured witch hazel in shades of orange...

...and yellow...

...and beautiful drifts of snowdrops.

There were views like this to enjoy.

We could see the witch hazels shining out across the lawns.  More to come in the next post.

Doddington Hall visit - Gardens

 As we were wandering around the gardens at Doddington Hall, I couldn't resist taking a few photos of plants and trees which interested me.  

The walled kitchen garden had a good display of fruit and vegetables.

It also has a pond which is hidden in this photo.  The apple trees through which I was peering are mainly heritage varieties.

Another view towards the pond area.

The waving grasses caught my eye here...

...as did this block of Gaura Lindheimeri.  If you look closely, there are three 'sculptures' made from reinforcing bar and filled with branches and logs.  I thought this was a great idea and could be adapted for a smaller space.  They could be filled with all kinds of materials to make insect habitats for winter.

Hopefully you can make them out in this closer view.  I would love to do something like this in my garden (when I can find a space!).

I do like views like this where something tempts you to explore and see what is round the corner.

The trees were beautiful and ancient.

This summer/autumn planting caught my eye in the formal garden. I like the wispy effect of the grasses too.  The 'everlasting flowers' (helichrysum) look great with the rudbeckia. 

They have repeated this particular rose along this border.  The shades of pink and apricot together caught my eye here.

Finally, for ancient trees, you can't get much better than the sweet chestnut trees they have, which are at least 450 years old.  

They have grown such gnarly trunks and branches...

...and have developed their own personalities.

Just imagine what they have seen through their lifetimes since around 1574.  Incredible!

It was a really good few hours we spent at Doddington and we enjoyed the visit very much.