October and the Walled Garden at Holkham

We were in Norfolk at the beginning of the month and the weather was glorious and sunny and we went for a look around the stunning walled garden at Holkham. The gardens are an ongoing and huge renovation project, which is interesting to see as the years go by. 

We came here once about four years ago and the renovations were in very early stages. Since then an enormous amount of work has taken place and many of the once derelict looking areas have been completely transformed. 

Although it was early autumn there was still plenty of colour and interest. 

The garden dates back to the 1700s and the walls act as a windbreak and reflect the sun to create it's own microclimate in the garden. There are some spectatular Victorian greenhouses, which have been restored with the help of the English Heritage. There are sunken greenhouses too and there are plans to renovate them. 

The garden contains orchard areas, a vineyard, greenhouse areas, an enormous fruit, vegetable and cut flower plot and a most stunning herbaceous square containing a rose garden. 

October is a beautiful time in the garden, the fruit is picked and the herbacous borders and annual plants are finishing, but I always think that this adds to the beauty and change in colour. Fading sunflowers created beautiful structures, the sunflower heads heavy with seeds. The last of the tomatoes were in the greenhouse and it gives you a sense that summer is not quite over and hopefully might stretch on for a few more weeks! 

There were still plenty of roses in bloom in the rose garden and it was a balmy day, so the scents were mingling with the gentle aroma of wood burning somewhere in the distance, this time giving that feeling that we are actually in autumn and conjuring up those thoughts of log fires and cosy, warm nights. 

Autumn thoughts were with me once more in the vegetable garden where squashes and pumpkins

were growing. It made me think of homemade, warming soup and crusty bread! 

I was delighted to see sweet peas, scattered around the garden, growing in displays as though it was high summer. There were in groups of just one colour- shades of pinks, reds and berry colours. Then there were patches of another autumn favourite of mine - sedum - it always brightens up the garden when the rest of the plants are fading back. 

It was a beautiful day, balmy and warm just like it can be in summer with just a slight autumn nip in the air now and again in the breeze. The garden echoed just that - that summer meets autumn feel; that not quite autumn yet and summer hasn't quite finished yet feel!