Spring highlights in the garden

There's new life everywhere you look at this time of year - and here at Sizergh it's no different. From the bright yellow trumpets of the daffodils in the stumpery to the fresh green fronds of the ferns in the rock garden, the garden in spring is a photogenic delight.

sizergh daffs
Sizergh   Cumbria

Daffodils in the stumpery

The stumpery is bright with sunny daffodils sitting cosily amongst a national collection of ferns and a variety of woodland flowers. Stumperies originate from the late Victorian era when they were seen as a fashionable way to display and grow ferns. Instead of getting rid of old tree stumps, they could be re-used and arranged artistically to show the roots of trees, encouraging ferns, lichen and moss to grow on and around them.

Cherry blossom in the gardens of Sizergh, Cumbria
Sizergh   Cumbria

Cherry blossom

Delicate blossom graces the cherry trees by the stumpery - a beautiful, fleeting spring moment. Did you know that an abundance of wildlife thrives on blossom? Bees seek pollen from wild cherry and apple blossoms and song thrushes and blackbirds eat the fruit and forage for insects among the flowers. Badgers, mice, voles and foxes are quick to seek out any fruit which falls to the ground.

sizergh ferns
Sizergh   Cumbria

Ferns in the rock garden

The ferns are unfurling from their winter slumber in the rock garden, appearing as these curled other-worldly forms. Swathes sprout from the ground, seemingly from nowhere, with their soft, bright green leaves. The rock garden was created in the early 20th century and originally planted with alpines, but later in the century, the garden was restored and the alpines replaced with ferns, creating another home for a National Collection of Ferns. Other National Collections can be found in the stumpery and the orchard.

Bumblebee feeding on chives
Sizergh   Cumbria

Kitchen garden produce

Sizergh's productive kitchen garden begins another year of growth. Fresh herbs, leafy greens and rhubarb are all grown organically on-site. This fresh produce is then harvested and used in the café (when it fully re-opens), but for now, an abundance of flowering chives can provide welcome nectar for bumblebees.

Pink double hellebores in spring garden at Charlecote
Sizergh   Cumbria

Hellebores

Hellebores bloom in shades of pink, green and white. Many are evergreen and some varieties have interesting mottled or silver-like leaves. They're also a popular favourite with early pollinating insects.