THE WONDER OF BOD
THE world famous Laburnum Arch at Bodnant Garden has bloomed early, putting on a stunning display.
The 140-year-old arch has produced its earliest blooms for a decade - with it’s golden flowers blooming two weeks earlier than they did in 2010.
Normally, it flowers at the end of May but the arch reached full bloom on May 15 - almost a week earlier than last year.
It is thought that a record amount of sunshine in April and May has resulted in the flowers developing earlier than usual.
The 55m-long archway – believed to be the longest and oldest of its kind in Britain – is the most anticipated highlight in the Conwy Valley garden’s calendar.
Adam Salvin, Assistant Head Gardener, said: “I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the laburnumburst into flower every year for 23 years. We usually anticipate the bloom towards the end of May, but thanks to the glorious April sunshine the flowers have developed much earlier than an average year. When the arch fully bloomed on 15May, it was very unusual.
“Although formal records don’t stretch back that far, it could even be the earliest I’ve seen it flower in 20 years.”
In a typical year, the arch draws around 50,000 people during the fortnight when it is at its finest and has provided a golden backdrop to dinners, proposals, weddings and anniversaries.
But for the first time the National Trust haven’t been able to welcome visitors to see the floral spectacle in person, while the garden remains closed in line with government guidelines.
General Manager William Greenwood said: “It’s a real shame people won’t be able to experience it this year, but we’re doing our best to bring the arch to people at home.”
Over the next two weeks, Bodnant Garden will stream “slow TV”video from the arch on Facebook and Instagram, also hosting a Twitter Q&A session with the Assistant Head Gardener. The season will close with start-tofinish time-lapse footage showing how the arch changes over the course of its flowering.
Mr Greenwood added: “We hope by sharing the experience virtually, people will have the opportunity to tune into the sights and sounds of the arch busy with bees - whether it’s after a long shift at work, during a home-schooling lesson or just for a few moments of escape.”
As well as flowering earlier, this year the archway has also produced shorter racemes - the “droplets’” of yellow flowers.
Mr Salvin said: “We’ve been monitoring the arch closely. Although not obvious to the general eye, this year’s racemes are about several centimetres shorter than we would expect, probably due to a lack of rain over the past couple of weeks. But it’s still an amazingly uplifting display.”