Lea Gardens
Visiting Lea Gardens is a must for anyone who loves colourful spring plants such as azaleas and rhododendrons. If you time your visit in May as I did - you will be rewarded with the most magnificent multicoloured spectacle. Lea Gardens were started in 1935 by John Marsden-Smedley who had been inspired by other gardens in the warmer southern counties. After various attempts to find ideal growing conditions, he settled for this sheltered wooded area on the side of a stoney hill. He employed craftsmen to use local stone (of which there was plenty, as the site was originally an old quarry dating back to Roman times) to build paths, walls and verandahs. He had 350 varieties of azaleas and rhododendrons, and after his death Peter and Nancy Tye took over the keeping of the garden - adding more ornamental shrubs and trees - opening the garden to the public in 1960. Over the years, the Tye family increased the size of the original gardens, adding hundreds more plants as well as a delightful tea shop and a thriving plant sales area.
Join me as I walk around this amazing labyrinth of colourful flowers...................................
What a wonderful place to sit and have a drink and maybe something to eat !
I hope you have enjoyed seeing such an array of colourful plants with me on my walk around this fascinating place.
Thank you,
Lynne
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