AZALEA, Derbyshire, Derwent Valley, England, Environmental, Everyday Life, Garden, Lea Rhododendron Gardens, May, Photography, Rhododendron, Spring, Spring Flowers

A SPRING SURPRISE………at last!

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Lunch time and the clouds rolled back to offer us a blue sky and gorgeous warm sunshine…an afternoon too good to miss so join us on our annual afternoon trip to Lea Rhododendron Gardens high in the hills of Derbyshire.

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You may recall that I shared a visit to these gardens last year so I hope you don’t mind a return trip.  The speciality is Rhododendrons and Azalea and it is a truly colourful collection….but each year because of the vagaries of our weather the display is distinctly different.  This year the rhododendron are way ahead of the Azalea (last year it was the other way round) so the display in this hillside wood are much bolder and brassy….

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Just to refresh your memories can I remind you that whilst these gardens look to be set in a very natural setting,  it is in fact an old stone quarry and was one mans dream, his hobby and in the end his life…what a legacy for all to enjoy….

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But before we leave there was time to enjoy a refreshing tea and a LARGE slice of Coffee Cake…….

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Sorry….I will share the pics but NOT the cake! Time to head for home….

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23rd May

© David Oakes 2013

14 thoughts on “A SPRING SURPRISE………at last!”

  1. You seem to be about three weeks ahead of us 🙂 but we did get a couple of days with temperatures touching 35-37 degrees C.
    Which created a lot of melting water and flooding all over the country.
    Not good!!!

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    1. The forecasters this morning opened her presentation by saying…’ today we appear to be heading for winter rather than summer’. Heavy rains, high winds yet again.

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  3. Lovely images David. Looks like you had a glorious day. Viewing the images I felt like I was walking among the beautiful flowers with you. Blessings, Robyn

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  5. Thank you for these photos, David/ They look wonderful. I can almost smell them. At least that’s what I would love. It’s pretty darn cold overhere, just like you East coast, I heard last Friday from my second mum. It’s a maximum of 10-13º C with lots of cold Northerly winds and even more rain. Like Autum came early this year. Gives me a bit of an idea what it was last summer in England. I have turned the radiators on as I am freezing… And sofar, forecast is not bringing much hope either. Never mind – the Sun ‘s in me and I like to bring it around and share it. Have a great weekend you all! Best wishes from The Netherlands where another healthy May Rain is falling on my balcony and everywhere else… 😀

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    1. I think we were lucky and timed the visit (totally by chance) just right, as we have has very high winds and heavy rain since…….I guess there will be more petals on the ground to-day. Temperatures again dropped and our heating has kicked in.

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