Benington Lordship Gardens

On the Bank Holiday weekend we visited the beautiful gardens at Benington Lordship in the picturesque village of Benington, near Stevenage in Hertfordshire. It is famous for its fabulous display of snowdrops in late January and February and is open to visitors for a few weeks during this period. It is then open for viewing to the public over both the May Bank Holidays and the August Bank Holiday. During the August weekend there is usually a chilli festival. 

The gardens are set around a Georgian manor house and are made up of seven acres of both formal and wild areas, including a carp pond, orchard, herbaceous borders, kitchen garden and even the remains of a norman castle and moat. 

Even the wild areas are looking stunning, the buttercups were out in full and there are views of buttercup filled meadows for miles around together with banks full of wild garlic, cow parsley and wild violets.

There are stunning displays of irises in an array of colours. I enjoyed these stunning pale blue ones the most mixed amongst pink campions and purple African lilies they make a spectacular display. 

Everywhere 'which way' we turned there was a feast for the eyes with stunning plants giving beautiful displays of colour. 

There were group after group of pale yellow irises against a backdrop of rolling countryside and the lake. 

First roses were peeping out as well as early foxgloves.

I loved this display of pastel coloured fox gloves against a backdrop of Johnson's Blue geranniums. 

Some plants and borders just took your breath away as you can see! The ornamental Alliums with their spherical, starry heads are just fascinating plants. 

These lupins were dazzling against a backdrop of fresh greenery and amongst the other vibrant colours of the border. You can see the border just stretches downwards with one impressive display of plants after another. 

The campions formed a sea of frothy link and white at the top of the steps, then the path drops down and you can wander past vibrant displays of poppies and irises. In the air you can smell the aromas and scents of the irises mingled with mock orange, whose blooms are out in full and are placed intermittently at the back of the borders.  

Irises and wild flowers bow gracefully over the carp pond. I don't know whether they are reaching for the sky or resting towards the clouds reflected in the pond!

The moat that was once filled with snowdrops in late winter is now covered in cow parsley and wild garlic and is a pleasure to walk through as you listen to the birdsong. 

Benington Lordship gardens are certainly at their most beautiful at this time of year and are a delight to wander around. After a lovely stroll, afternoon tea is served at either the house or in the village hall a few yards away. What could be better than to finish off your afternoon?