A garden is a great place to unwind and de-stress, so when in need of a day out this past Wednesday I took a look at the National Garden Scheme website to see what gardens were open. I discovered Ivy Croft, described as “a maturing rural garden with areas of meadow, wood and orchard, blending with the countryside and providing habitat for wildlife”. Perfect!
We pre-booked our tickets via the website (a must these days with COVID-19 restrictions) and we were on our way. Ivy Croft was just over an hour’s drive from home and across the border in Herefordshire. We found Ivy Croft down a country lane (which, to be honest, is where you usually find these open gardens!).
When we arrived we discovered we had the garden to ourselves as nobody else had booked that afternoon. Roger, the owner, gave us a brief introduction to the garden and let us explore at our own leisure.
First, we headed to the garden surrounding the cottage. Almost immediately, I spotted a dragonfly (which I think is a male Southern Hawker). Bees and butterflies were fluttering and buzzing about too. I loved how the cottage garden was split into sections and each one was different.
We found another enclosed garden area with a wide range of plants, vegetables and an abundance of apples. As always, my attention was drawn to the array of dahlias around the garden. Again, bees and butterflies were enjoying this part of the garden as much as I was.
It was a joy to walk through the meadow and orchard in the September sun. In one corner we found a wild area, left to attract wildlife, no doubt. In another area, we found my Dad sitting beneath a tree, enjoying the view. Whenever I take my parents to an open garden, Dad often wanders off on his own and can usually be found relaxing on a bench somewhere.
The trees in the orchard held copious amounts of apples just waiting to be picked. Amongst the apple trees, some chickens pottered around their pen, shaded from the heat. They were a little camera shy though.
Back in the nursery area, we ended up buying some dahlias. That’s another thing I love at NGS open gardens, you just never know what plants you might find for sale.
Ivy Croft is open again on Wednesday 23rd September and Wednesday 30th September, but remember to pre-book on the NGS website if you’re thinking of visiting.
Ivy Croft, Ivington Green, Leominster, Herefordshire, HR6 0JN
Hi Nikki,
I do like that your posts tell the story of your day out in pictures and I can see how much you are enjoying yourself by the beautiful photograph compositions.
Your dad also looks lovely and relaxed, so it obviously did him a lot of good too!
This is definitely a garden to attract the wildlife.
I hope that all is well with you and thanks for a lovely post 🙂
Yvonne xx
What a fabulous garden, and house too. That must be a compliment to the owners, when a visitor can take themselves off somewhere to sit, relax and enjoy their surroundings.
The name Ivy Croft is wonderful. Beautiful photos of a fall garden. Have a great week!
What a beautiful place to visit! Love the photos you have taken and what a shot of the dragonfly! Would love to visit this place, but its quite far from me…will have to work in a trip down that way!
Aimsy xoxo
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Lovely! Thank you for getting me out of the house (mentally, at least).
It alll looks delightful. Hundreds of hours of work has gone into this, I’m sure.
What a gorgeous garden to visit and enjoy. Your flower photos are stunning especially with the bees enjoying their beauty. Thanks for sharing and have a lovely evening.
So many lovely photos from what must have been a wonderful outing! I think my favorite is that dragonfly. We have many colors here, but I don’t think I’ve seen one with yellow like that before. Good action shot of the chicken! (trying to get away, I’m sure)
It’s a shame that they’re not better attended when all that work goes into them, Nikki. If you were on Twitter or Facebook I’d share this 🙂 🙂
Ha! Just did 🙂 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
That braided arbour which is shading your Dad. Is it willow, or bamboo?
I think it’s willow.
So lovely! I especially enjoyed the dragonfly photo as I don’t often see them. I’ve visited a number of gardens this summer as well. It’s been one positive of the pandemic; finding outdoor adventures.
What a lovely garden. Seems like a perfect getaway for the day. Have a great week.
What a really lovely garden to visit.
Your photos are like a mini vacation for me…I can imagine being there, even now when travel is not a possibility. Thank you for that!
It’s a beautiful garden, and so different than anything you’d see in my part of the world. I love the dragonfly pic and your photos of the bees busy collecting nectar from the dahlias reminded me that, next year, I should get some of the single-petaled dahlia varieties that bees prefer (not that I don’t have a lot else available to them in my garden at present).
This looks beautiful, it seems like such a nice place to visit, especially while the weather is still fairly nice! It looks like you got a pretty good day for it. All of your photos are so pretty, the house itself looks lovely as well. Your dad seems very relaxed on the bench! x
Sophie
Oh wow, what a magical-looking place!
That place looks absolutely beautiful! Look at all those flowers!
What a delightful garden!
You are so fortunate to be able to take your parents to a wonderful spot like this. This is “my” kind of garden — obviously curated and tended and yet with that wild, free, happy look. Almost like it just happened. (I learned a long time ago gardens don’t “happen” without a lot of work!) I love the name Ivy Croft. It’s evocative of the beauty.
What a fab place to visit, love how your family are happily to split up and wander around doing your own thing, Dad looks relaxed on the bench
Beautiful garden, and a bonus to have it to yourself. Ivy Croft sounds like a person. I imagine her in a checked overall serving teas at the WI Bring and Buy!
The garden looks wonderful. Lovely to see a photo of your dad enjoying the view 🙂
I could not agree with you more about garden being a great place to unwind and de-stress. You found such a beautiful one too! Your dad certainly looks very relaxed there. Gorgeous dragonfly and I love the photo of the door.
-Soma
Such a lovely post full of beautiful photographs.
A wonderful garden.
All the best Jan
What a beautiful garden, and lovely photos too. I’m smiling at Anabel’s comment about Ivy Croft being a person 🙂
Oh wow what an incredible place! It must’ve been lovely to spend some time outside exploring. Your photography is so beautiful too!:)
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What a gorgeous place! It looks so peaceful, with just the greenery flowers, bees and dragonflies. That bench area that your dad’s sitting on in the photo looks really relaxing to just soak up the bliss. Ivy Croft looks like a little slice of heaven and you’ve got some amazing photos! xx
I love a cottage garden. Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos, especially of that gorgeous dragon fly.
This is such a beautiful discovery!
Oh to have a garden like Ivy Croft – it looks like such a serene place. I need to find a good coat and step out into nature a bit more, although I’m very proud of myself as I went for a long walk with friends the other day 🙂
A lovely garden -thanks for sharing.