The Gorgeous Nothings at Chatsworth

October started with a last minute visit to the Gorgeous Nothings exhibition at Chatsworth. This has been running all summer but it was only the threat of it ending in a day or two that made me make the effort to go!

The exhibition was a celebration of flowers as represented in art, from modern sculptures  to antique embroideries on collars and bedhangings. 

I found it all totally fascinating, and wished I'd visited sooner and had opportunity to re-visit.

 

Autumnal hydrangeas

Not far from home, in a corner of Darley Park, there's a walled garden dedicated to the National Collection of Hydrangeas. It's a place I've visited frequently in summer, but a sunny day last week seemed like the perfect opportunity to check it out in autumn. 

I'd half expected that it might look drab and dull - after all it IS autumn - but I was pleasantly surprised.

I remember hydrangeas grown by my mother which just turned brown or beige in autumn but these hadn't; while their colours had obviously changed and muted over the weeks there was still a range of dusky pinks, reds, mauves, and purples.

Some, like this particular one, even had the various stages of colours - moving from white to pink to green/soft red.

And some even have stunning foliage, as bright and colourful as the flowers.

Every time I visit I realise there's a lot more to hydrangeas than the pink mop-heads I remember from childhood.

Chatsworth Flowers (and an ice cream)

When I got back from my most recent visit to Chatsworth gardens, I realised I hadn't taken photos of any of the 'hard' landscaping or water features - the huge fountain, the Cascade, the various ponds.

I just had masses of photos of flowers, and an ice cream :)

So here are the flowers. 

A lot of similar flowers appear throughout the garden, repeated from one area to another to give a sense of wholeness to such a large subdivided space (in total it's 105 acres). So I've arranged them more by type then by the part of the garden.

There are so many different shades and sizes of iris, all the blues and purples, plus yellow 'flags' here in the kitchen garden and alongside streams and ponds. The almost black is the most striking though best seen in contrast to others - I'm not sure I'd fill a garden with it

The peonies were so gorgeous and flamboyant, covering every shade from white to deepest pink.

A row of several different shades grows along the north-facing wall of the Maze, and more are to be found in the cutting garden.

My favourite area of the garden is Arcadia, the newly planted section that runs across the hillside. 

It's all carefully planted with the flowers here all in shades of white, pink, purple and even green, but feels like a wild meadow. 

It's exuberant yet at the same time calming - an excellent place to just sit for a while.

Further on there are wilder bits of garden - buttercups allowed to flower freely, and ox-eye daisies lining the Grotto pond, showing how wonderful even native wild flowers can be.
 

Jottings 5th December - looking forward

 Last week was a bit of a rollercoaster. This week was definitely on the up.

It feels like suddenly there are things to look forward - a relatively normal family Christmas, a covid vaccine, and hopefully a normal summer next year. I hope it isn't too long before things settle back to their old routine, but even if it takes a while, I feel that now things are moving forward, rather than us just having to hide away.

I always start thinking about Christmas far later than most people seem to. All the neighbours have got their festive lights up (I haven't), and probably all their present-buying finished (I've hardly started!). 

To get the Christmas vibe going, we headed out to Chatsworth on Tuesday, the only really dry day. The House was due to open in its Christmas finery this week, but the local Tier 3 restrictions have called a halt to that. The gardens though are still open, with an illuminated trail leading around various Christmassy features.

Other than that day out, it seems to have been a quiet week with not much happening. Other areas, even parts of Derbyshire, have had snow but there was no such excitement here. Just a lot of cold, damp drizzle interspersed with rain.

Despite that I'm trying to keep up my evening walks, muffled up in scarves and heavy duffel coat, as I've come to appreciate this short time outside before settling down for the evening with my knitting.

In a brief dry spell at weekend I nipped into the garden and clipped some flowers and foliage. The winter jasmine is looking really good this year, with all of it seeming to flower at once rather than higgledy piggledy from now to February, but because of its position against the house walls it can't be seen from inside. It's lovely and cheery though and helps brighten up these dull months, plus remind me that, as Shelley wrote, "If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind".

And again ...

Yes, I've been out walking at Kedleston again!

Last Sunday looking at the weather forecast for the week ahead, Monday looked like the best day to go out for a reasonable length walk, while avoiding high temperatures and thunderstorms (and after my recent trip to Carsington, I've no wish to get drenched again).

By the time we booked, late on Sunday, the earliest slot left was at 3, which seemed a bit late but proved a good choice as most visitors seemed to be leaving, and away from the car park and tea kiosk everywhere was very quiet.

We started with a look at the wildflowers in the Pleasure Grounds. Even in a week, the overall appearance has changed and yellow is now the dominant colour.

From there, we headed for the encircling walk, which we seemed to have to ourselves. 

Up, past the Hermit's Hut to a seat with a view, though the haze prevented a panorama of the Derbyshire countryside.

 

I'd hoped to complete the Long Walk, but at the turning back to the Hall, I decided it was too hot, and having started so late, I'd have to rush to finish before closing, so back down through the park we went,watched by curious sheep     

                                             .

After a another visit to the flowers and a brief rest by the house, watching buzzards circling above, we strolled down to the lakes and along to the bridge which carries the main drive over them.

Again, there were was no one else around, though it was now nearly time for the park to close, so perhaps it wasn't so surprising.

We definitely picked the right day because although Monday seemed hot, it wasn't as bad as the next few days, and those late afternoon timeslots are best if you prefer a quiet walk.