Houghton Hall wisteria

On this trip to Norfolk I was looking round gardens for wisteria.

Belton had some in a surprising spot by the entrance. Blickling had walls covered with it. So I thought we'd pretty much found peak wisteria - till I saw Houghton's pergola!

There's lots to see as you enter the walled garden.

In a far corner though, glimpsed at first beyond formal hedging, lies an enchanting surprise. Not just a plant or two but a tunnel of gorgeous lilac wisteria

Walking underneath it is almost like being in a fairy-tale. The nearest thing I've seen to it is the laburnum arch at Bodnant, but lovely as that is it doesn't have the scent or enchantment of wisteria. It helps that at Houghton there were far fewer people in the garden, and, while we were there, no one else under the wisteria pergola.

Still photos can't really capture the wonder of it, so do go if you have the opportunity.

Houghton's walled garden occupies 5 acres so there's lots much to see - long magnificent herbaceous border, quiet nooks with statues or water features, a greenhouse with exotic flowers and fruit, a cottage-garden style vegetable patch with flowers.rambling among the productive rows.

 

Houghton Hall Walled Garden

Much as I love sea and sand, one of the reasons I'd gone to Norfolk this time was to visit Houghton Hall Walled Garden. We'd booked in advance and the weather wasn't at its best but we donned out waterproofs and went to explore. 

On paper, the garden seems quite small - a 5 acre plot - but once inside its walls, it appears to expand, Tardis-like, into a series of  'rooms'; some overflowing with flowers, some comparatively stark with rows of trees (though I'd imagine these could look quite different at blossom time or in autumn)

 I've taken so many photos that I can't share them all, but here are some of my favourites - the wonderful herbaceous borders tat run the full width of the garden, rows of neatly trimmed trees, lavender in the rose garden with lily bulbs growing through, calm pools of water, a fountain of flame, 

There were sections of productive garden too with plots of mixed blooms and veg, where leeks hid next to flowers, and red cabbages contrasted with pale nasturtiums (who says a veg patch can't look pretty?), and adjoining it a beautiful patch of flowers to encourage pollinators.

This is definitely somewhere I'd like to re-visit, preferably at a different time of year. A second flowering of the wisteria hinted at how gorgeous that must be earlier in the year, the apples, pears and cherries at blossom-time would be wonderful, and I'm sure there were the 'remnants' of flowering bulbs hidden among long grass. So, a place crossed off my must-visit list but one that I'll return to.
 

Holiday time again - Norfolk

It took me a while to discover Norfolk (I think I was over 40) but once I did I fell in love with it. Long expanses of salt marsh, beaches stretching as far as the eye can see, and the immense (hopefully blue) sky above. So, looking for a short break, with a promise of good weather, we headed east.

I had definite ideas about where I wanted to go, and places I wanted to visit. Top of my list was King Charles' Norfolk home, Sandringham. It's now part of the RHS Partner gardens scheme, which means that as a member entrance is free for me. While I was visiting, I thought I might as well drop in next door on one side, to Houghton Hall's award winning walled garden, also part of the RHS Partner gardens scheme, and, on the other, to the ruins at Castle Rising. 

Of course, any trip to Norfolk involves a stop-over at Belton House to break the journey, a visit to the beach (Old Hunstanton), and the salt-marches, and a fish and chip supper.

Through AirBnB we found a lovely traditional cottage at Dersingham, hardly a few miles from any of these places, and spent the one really wet morning of our stay exploring the flower-filled country lanes just outside the village.