A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to visit the garden at Bryncelyn, in the hills above Llanfyllin, Powys. I was there to photograph the garden and do a few “on the day” social media posts for the National Garden Scheme. As I’m sure you can see, my volunteer work takes me to some of the most beautiful gardens in this area.
There is often a story behind the gardens which open for the National Garden Scheme. The owners of Bryncelyn, David & Rosemary, decided to open their garden for two weekends this year, in June and in September, despite their own difficult circumstances. Even when David became very ill they still continued with their plans. David was determined to make it to the September opening, but, sadly, it wasn’t to be. David died a couple of weeks before the garden opened in September. Rosemary, however, decided to continue with their plans and opened the garden as a memorial to David and his ambitions for their garden, and in turn their support for Horatio’s Garden (a national charity creating beautiful gardens in NHS spinal injury centres to support everyone affected by spinal injury).
I visited on the Saturday and it was a beautiful, warm and sunny day, perfect for browsing and relaxing in a wonderful garden (with teas and cake also on offer).
The 3 acre garden at Bryncelyn includes a flat lawn and gravelled areas, as well as sloping lawns leading down to a small lake and stream. Garden beds feature perennial plants and shrubs chosen to attract nature (and that they do!).
The resident donkeys are very friendly, but unfortunately, I didn’t catch sight of the beautiful resident peacocks.
Having spotted a kaleidoscope of butterflies and many bees on the sedum, and spending some considerable time photographing and videoing them, I just had to go and buy some sedum from the local garden centre the following day. I’ve now lost count of the number of plants bought because I’ve seen them attracting bees and butterflies in National Garden Scheme open gardens. This volunteering is becoming expensive!
The garden at Bryncelyn really does attract a lot of nature. As well as the butterflies and bees, it was a joy to see dragonflies fluttering about at the bottom of the garden.
It was a joy to visit Bryncelyn and I will miss visiting these beautiful NGS gardens as the weather gets colder and the openings wind down. Our area now only has 3 gardens opening before the end of October. Although, there are also a couple of gardens still open by arrangement before the end of the year.
22 Comments
Jo
How sad that David wasn’t there to see the opening, but knowing that Rosemary managed to open on time will probably be a blessing to her. It’s a beautiful garden but those gorgeous donkeys would tempt me to visit anyway.
Yvonne @ Fiction
Hi Nikki,
We have so many gardens local to us, who are part of the NGS scheme, however we never seem to visit many of them. I have to admit that some of them are quite expensive for what they are, so we tend to visit those who are donating the admission fees to charity.
It is such a shame that David never quite made it to the opening of Bryncelyn, although at least he got to see his amazing garden come to full fruition.
There have been some amazing butterfly and dragonfly displays around this year, in fact we have had a good collection in and around our own garden and ponds, which have been quite obliging in the photography stakes!
Your pictures are always great and I am pleased that you seem to be enjoying your voluntary work so much 🙂
Yvonne
xx
Nikki
Hi Yvonne, thanks for visiting. Certainly in our area (and this should be the same in all other areas), all admission fees and usually the tea & cake money are donated to charity. The National Garden Scheme distributes the money to a number of health charities (more info found here – https://ngs.org.uk/who-we-are/beneficiaries/ ).
Kris P
The garden is spectacular and your photos are top-notch, Nikki. The owners’ dedication to the garden and their charitable focus is touching. I loved your close-ups of the donkeys and the flying visitors.
Johanna Bradley
What a glorious garden but so sad her husband died. Opening to the public is a brave thing to do in any situation, and a lot of work.
Sophie Wentworth
Those gardens are absolutely stunning! The dedication to it is very touching. Photographs are incredible too! The flowers look so pretty close up x
Sophie
http://www.glowsteady.co.uk
Carol
Holding the garden opening is a beautiful tribute to David and must be bittersweet. Lovely garden and the photos of bees, butterflies, flowers and donkeys make me smile! Happy Sunday!
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
Beautiful gardens, but a sad story. It was brave to keep going.
Somewhere in Ireland
Stunning gardens, absolutely beautiful to see. I love your photos of the donkeys, butterflies and dragonfly. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post. Have a wonderful new week.
Kelly
What a poignant story about the owners.
Donkeys are always entertaining and I’m sure these rival the grounds in attracting visitors! Wonderful photos of the butterflies. Actually, wonderful photos all around!
Ann Coleman
That is so beautiful, but I so sorry to hear that one of the owners died. I think his wife was very brave and generous to keep the gardens open.
Lady Fi
That really is a most gorgeous garden! And cute donkeys too.
Derrick Knight
Lovely photographs and poignant story
Lauren
Sounds like a great trip, you have taken some beautiful photographs. Great nature pictures. Thank you for sharing
Joanne Sisco
Wow – 3 acres of garden to manage and all of it beautiful. To think I complain about the yard work involved in my small corner of the world.
jessicabookworm
Nikki, your volunteer job is the best, if a little expensive! How very sad that David passed, but wonderful that Rosemary was still able open their garden in his memory.
Anca
Aww, that’s so sad. It’s a shame David didn’t get to see the garden open, but how lovely that she went ahead and open it in what must be a very difficult time.
The garden looks beautiful and those donkeys are so cute.
jeanie
Oh Nikki, I love every single photo here, especially the ones of the butterflies, bees and dragonflies on those gorgeous sedum. Love the sitting places and oh, it’s so beautifully maintained.
I really feel for Rosemary. This had to be very hard for her but I hope it was also healing to see people visiting the garden that she and David so loved. Thank you for taking us there.
'Wisps of Words'
So, so beautiful…. Thank you for your lovely, large photos! This is the way, all blog photos, *should* show up! According to me, that is. -smile-
Please read my latest post……..
Margaret Griffin
Hi, What a perfect way to spend a day visiting such a beautiful garden with the added attraction of donkeys and refreshments.
Felicity Grace Terry
Oh my goodness! Sitting here with the wind howling and rain lashing against the window its such a joy to have shared the beauty that is this garden.
Such a sad story. I can only hope that Rosemary finds some solace in the peace and happiness people must find visiting Bryncelyn
CherryPie
The garden looks wonderful. I love the photos of your visit 🙂