RHS Garden Harlow Carr

Working at RHS Garden Harlow Carr is a real pleasure and that pleasure is only accentuated when the weather is glorious and spring is in the air. Today is one such day: the sun is shining, there is hardly any wind and the spring bulbs are looking at their shining best. Amongst the usual suspects we have got a gorgeous swathe of Hyacinth ‘Caribbean Dream’ looking exactly like the shimmer and sparkle of the sea on a bright sunny day; you could almost take a dip! This is headed up by a necklace of Anemone ‘White Splendour’ setting of the blue perfectly. You feel that all is well with the world as a public garden such as ours gives so much pleasure to so many people for many different reasons.

The beauty of this garden is that is can be enjoyed on all levels from tiny tots to those who are not able to get about quite so easily. Many of our visitors get no further than the top steps where we have many seats. This is a sun trap and quite sheltered so we do get a lot of people enjoying this area. We are a wheelchair-friendly garden - some motorised and some pushed - and there are seats all around the whole 58 acre site. We have two particularly special swing seats in the garden provided for us by Sitting Spiritually, where the sitter can contemplate the gardens from a different angle and enjoy swaying gently at the same time. Both are situated in the Lakeside gardens. Up here is another large swathe or glorious hyacinths, this time Hyacinth Jan Bos, the most delicious pink hyacinth you could ever imagine, backed up by glorious golden daffodils with deep orange trumpets, the prettiest of pictures.

If spring bulbs aren’t your thing then enjoy the winter flowering heathers, again by the entrance. The bees are busy working them and they are a fabulous tapestry of colour. If you’re in the area do pay us a visit, tarry a while on a swing seat, drink in the glory and colour of a beautiful Yorkshire garden and put the world to rights!

With many thanks to Katherine Musgrove, Garden Manager, RHS Garden Harlow Carr

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