Scents, Snowdrops & Sandwich's- Hodsock Priory Gardens

A new garden to me, Hodsock Priory Gardens was a special visit for my Birthday and, oh my, what a treat! Considering its the end of Winter, heading into Spring where most gardens are looking rather dull, Hodsock has a complete sensory experience to enjoy during these quieter months in the garden. Let me take you on a journey around this lovely late winter-early spring wondrous garden.

Firstly, as we made our way from the car pack towards the 'beginning' of this sensory journey we were hit by vibrant, jewels of bright pink blossoms giving us a well and truly warm welcome into the Hodsock Priory Garden. This gorgeous blossom tree, pictured above is Prunus mume ''Beni-Chidori' an early flowering variety covered in stunning pink blooms that sit on naked stems, flowering from late winter and through the spring.

We are now drawn in to the charm of this garden, moving us on from the colour-pop Prunus, we now move into the sumptuous scented part of our garden journey...

Lonicera fragrantissima plays a huge and wonderful part at Hodsock, lining the pathways with its understated blooms that fill the air with sweet, woody vanilla fragrances. A fabulous shrub choice that can provide a haven for wildlife throughout the year, and a shrub with a practical use too! Here at Hodsock they have clearly shown that Lonicera fragrantissima can be used to create good garden hedging, which is incredibly enhanced by this gorgeous heady fragrance through the winter months. 

Visually Lonicera can look rather dull as a plant in winter, with hints of creamy blooms dangling gracefully from naked stems. However as seen above, the mature shrub kept as a well looked after hedge can be filled with so many more blooms from heavy pruning. Which in turn increases the abundance of its beautiful sweet scent. 

We actually went to Hodsock Priory to see the famous snowdrops, but by now as you can tell, we were pleasantly surprised to begin unravelling what seems to be a beautiful garden too, a beautiful winter garden at that. Our sensory tour continues....

Dotted around the gardens are varying decorative pieces that add another dimension & additional interest to the garden visually, especially during the winter. Which again enhances the sensory experience when walking around Hodsock. With the glorious scents mentioned so far (and more to follow...) the visual of decorative pieces and colourful/pretty flowers is again enhanced further by the sound of wildlife enjoying the garden. 

Talking about wildlife... Hodsock have the most inventive & fun bee hives I've ever seen! 

These lovely bee hives are wonderful, hidden slightly out of view but easily found as the path meanders its way around to where these sit so proudly. Under planted with lovely hardy Cyclamen, flowering in drifts throughout the garden but slightly more prominent here. Of course no major bee buzzing right now, but a slightly warmer day & all these beautiful blooms there is the odd brave pollinator having a little buzz around. 

We also see more Prunus mume further up this area of the garden, mirroring the gorgeous welcome we had.

As we continue back to the main, meandering path, we come across yet even more delicious winter garden scent in Chimonanthus praecox. Another decidous shrub with very delicate, low-key looking blooms that pack a punch when it comes to scent.

Then following on from this we bump into the gorgeous glossy deep green evergreen foliage of Sarcococca which is filled with little creamy flower tassels. More heady sweet scent, this beauty was also planted to line some of the pathways heading towards the old Glasshouse. Not only fragrant, but also showing off its gorgeous ornamental berries for which I am sure the birds will be eyeing up!

 

Sarcococca makes for such a good informal low hedge that covers all year around, it can be clipped but it doesn't tend to keep itself as tidy as a Buxus hedge. However all is forgiven when you get that beauty of a scent making things feel much happier in the winter garden. 

I am loving the use of the two key winter flowering shrubs as hedging, Lonicera and Sarcococca- such a great idea and great way to add borders with all year interest.

 

And there's still more winter beauty to be had! Fantastic catkins, glamor tassels in the garden world, hanging off this lovely evergreen Garrya elliptica. A great wall shrub for tough all year coverage which can also provide shelter for small birds throughout the seasons.

 

We cross over a little pathway which brings us round to the lovely old Glasshouse. I can see lots going on in here, looks like they do a lot of their own propagting and cuttings from here which is lovely to see.

Gorgeous Viburnum growing low around the front of the Glasshouse showing off it's attractive red flower bracts following its earlier blooms.

And of course, no winter garden, seemingly filled with scented shrubs, would be complete without the good old favourite Hamamelis x intermedia. This was a mature shrub, so the blooms absolutely filled all of the top branches that come off all the mature growth. A sea of yellow spider-like scented flower tassels!

 

Planted alongside the lower walls of the terrace were stunning double-flowering Snowdrops, yes you have to get on your hands and knees to take a proper look at their beauty!

Galanthus nivalis 'Flore Pleno' with its petticoat-like underskirt layers.

I love looking out for different structures and details in a garden, I always think they add a little extra interest whatever time of the year. The lovely Fleur de Lis detail in this wood panel painted in french grey pops against all the naked stems in the garden.

Lovely to see Iris reniculata popping up in between all the Snowdrops too!

A very early flowering evergreen Azalea (too early for a Rhodie?) really offsets the classic English country house beauty you can see in the background. Plants & architecture can work so closely together to create a wonderful cohesion between brick and the natural world making everything flow together as well as soften or add structure to each other.

The lovely rose garden with it's neatly clipped Buxus hedges adding a formal space nearer to the house. I bet this looks lovely in the summer months, we'll just have to come back to investigate! I love that each bed has a taller, standard rose which adds formal height and shape to each rose bed.

Stunning buildings again working with the surrounding grounds, trees filling the space between brick and grass, with lovely early flowering bulbs planted in clumps throughout the lawns to soften the area.

Then heading down in to the woodland area, to be met with huge drifts and swaves of Snowdrops. So many different types, not all labelled so I can't tell you the varieties unfortunately. However the show was just amazing.

When you get right down and look closely, Snowdrop flowers have the most amazing details. Like the above standard Galanthus nivalis with its upside down love heart 'print'.

Lovely water features surrounding parts of the more formal side of the garden, the reflections from the winter sun look bright and add another dimension.

A sea of wonderful Snowdrops

Of course we had to make use of the fantastic Tea Tent! Perfect Bacon Bap & a cuppa to warm us up after a chilly but lovely wander around the gardens.

I love this view of Hodsock Priory, peeping through the evergreen foliage of Garrya and Taxus that make a frame around the beautiful building and it's lovely winter flowering shrubs.

Another quick look at the gorgeous double flowered Snowdrop before we go... a little blurred but beautiful!

  

....And another quick look at this beauty again on our way out of the garden! Goodbye Prunus mume ''Beni-Chidori' and thank you Hodsock Priory for a wonderfully winter spectacular visit!