The Gardens of Portmore

It was a day of mixed weather but the afternoon had been promised to be the best part of the day so that is when we went and visited Portmore Gardens, open every Wednesday during July and August between 10 and 4. It had been quite a few years since we last visited and the transformation was astonishing. The place is breathtaking and I would think at the moment about the very best it can get. The Portmore Estate dates back to the 18th Century but had fallen very much into disrepair till the present owners took it on back in 1979. Work to restore the garden started in 1987 and is ongoing. We met the gardener who has been there from the start and this place is clearly a labour of love. 

I took a gigantic amount of pictures, far too many to show you so these are the highlights. I think it's safe to say we will be back, maybe as early as  August so there will be more. Many individual flowers were superb and I took beautiful macro pictures, but I have concentrated here on showing you more of an overview of what the garden looks like. I couldn't resist though to share this eryngium with you.

 And this poem in the wall spoke to me loud and clear as time is something I think about a lot. Here it is:

Time is our chequerboard of dark and bright

with peace & turmoil, grieving and delight

And in the end there is no more time to tell

To make amends; so love and use time well.

(E. Cartwright Hignett)

The beds were laid out beautifully and symmetrically, and interspersed with sculptures and garden ornaments.

 It reminded me most (although of course on a much smaller scale) of the gardens in Versaille.

 It was wonderfully romantic and if it's not too lofty to say it connected to my soul, specially the above vista.

 This was taken inside the Victorian greenhouse which was a riot of fuchsias and geraniums. 

 This shell grotto too dates back to those earlier times.

Even the vegetable garden was a dream of colour, symmetry and delight.