We went for a short break in Northumberland last
month and the first
place we went to was Alnwick Castle. You have to pay for entry to the
gardens separately but the castle ticket allows you to visit for a whole year.
As it was the beginning of spring, a few of the
flowers weren’t out yet but there were still lots of pretty colours,
especially the tulips and the hedge below. There’s also the impressive
fountain and arches to walk round, as well as the cherry blossom and bamboo gardens.
Behind the Grand Cascade, we found a little collection of gardens to explore – the Ornamental gardens with its lovely fountains and the Rose Gardens. You can also go on a tour around the Poison Garden. The tour lasted about fifteen minutes and they explained which plants were poisonous including rhubarb leaves, daffodils, poppies and even doc leaves. Some of the plants are so dangerous that Alnwick Garden have a licence to be able to keep them and they are kept in cages.
Alnwick garden boasts the largest collection of ‘Tai-hauku’ cherry blossom outside of Japan and there are over 300 trees in the Orchard. They only bloom for around two weeks a year, usually the end of April/beginning of May, but it’s dependent on the weather so it’s hard to predict. There are plenty of double seated swings positioned around the orchard giving you a unique opportunity to swing underneath the shade of the trees.
