Around Benington at Snowdrop Time

As February approaches each year, I always look forward to seeing the snowdrops appear and to visiting Benington Lordship Gardens to see the spectacular display of snowdrops in the gardens there. It's become a fixture on our February calendar and for me, the snowdrops blooming are the first signs of winter fading away and spring looking nearer on the horizon. It's the time the garden starts to unfold with new colours and life. 

Benington is a small Hertfordshire village on the outskirts of Stevenage and the gardens are usually open to the public during February, as they are home to a vast array of snowdrops of many differing varieties. There are also hellebores, crocuses and aconites in bloom as well as beautiful views across the lake and the rolling Hertfordshire countryside. The village is also very pretty and worth a wander around with its old church and duck pond. Refreshments are also available in the village hall or in the hall in the grounds of Benington Lordship for when you've finished your walk or wander. 

I think the pictures speak for themselves...

Fairlands Valley Park

We've had some glorious days this January, an uplifting start to the year to see the winter blue skies and the sun shining. Sometimes we forget about places that are near to us and right under our noses and take them for granted. Places like our local parks and nearby footpaths. Having a dog has set me off exploring places locally again. On Saturday the weather was glorious and we decided to go for an afternoon walk with Ted around Fairlands Valley Park in Stevenage. It's a place quite near to us and when our girls were small we used to live in Stevenage, so we had many enjoyable and memorable visits to this park while they were growing up. 

On a day like Saturday everywhere looked stunning - the sky a deep blue; trees reaching high and looking stark in the sunlight; the lake echoing the colours of the sky, clouds and trees and teaming with wildlife and late afternoon sun touching the grasses and redwoods with its golden glow. 

We spotted comorants - two were resting high in a tree, herons, grebes, moorhens, swans, geese and ducks and Ted was over excited when he spotted a squirrel or two! Yes, even the squirrels popped out of hibernation for a while on this beautiful day.  

A wander along the side of the lake and the sun suddenly dipped and gave us yet another one of those glorious January sunsets we've been having. A perfect pleasure just lingering to watch as dipped lower and lower and looked as though it was dropping from the sky. 

Beautiful Benington

February and it's the time once more for Benington Village's 'Snowdrop Sundays'. I love to visit as Benington Lordship gardens have spectacular displays of snowdrops and many of them are rare species. The gardens are also springing into life with hellebores, aconites, early spring blossoms and crocuses - and there are redwoods scattered around adding to all the new colour.

The grounds of Benington Lordship are interesting with old castle ruins and a lake and moat. The moat is grassed over now and there are swathes of naturalised snowdrops as you wander through it. There are also many herbacous borders that are still resting after the long winter, but will be full of colour soon. At the moment they are filled with the beautiful white of snowdrops and here and there the yellows of aconites and the purples of the crocus add to the stunning spring colour. 

The church, its grounds and the village is also worth a stroll around and you can get tea and home made cakes in the village hall  - an added bonus! Get a sunny February day and it's well worth a visit. I think a visit here always seems to mark the start of the new gardening year for me and signals spring is very close at long last! 

Benington Lordship is open daily 7th Feb until 1st March for snowdrops.

Bennington Lordship