IN Derbyshire,
we are spoiled for with choice when it comes to spots that have blossoming trees and beautiful gardens.
Many of these places are also National Trust sites. Derbyshire is home to lots of great National Trust sites that each year attract thousands of locals to different events and fun days planned by the trust.
Running for a fifth year, the National Trust’s Blossom Watch encourages people to celebrate the beauty of blossom and bask in the sights and scents of spring. Inspired by the Japanese tradition of Hanami, (which translates as “flower viewing”), the National Trust is encouraging people to pause and take a moment to appreciate the beauty of blossom that can be found in orchards, gardens, hedgerows and city parks.
Each month during spring, there are different blossoms to spot. In March and April, look for clouds of white and pink blooms from apples, pears, plums and damsons. Pink cherry blossoms join the show in April, while hawthorns and rowans close the seasons in May and June with delicate white flowers.
Here are the National Trust sites to visit this spring:
CALKE ABBEY:
With more than 600 acres of ancient parkland, nature reserves, wetlands and romantic gardens, Calke Abbey is home to a rich tapestry of flora throughout the year. One of the first signs of spring arriving at Calke is the delightful blossom that sweeps over the walled gardens.
Early spring sees the peach and nectarine blossom flowering in the Peach House in the walled kitchen garden, followed by plum and apple blossom later in the season. Around the wider estate, look out for wild cherry, blackthorn and hawthorn blossom at this time of year. Pause on one of the benches around the estate to enjoy the sweet smell of the blossom and the possibilities of the seasons to come.
HARDWICK HALL: An Elizabethan country house created by Bess of Hardwick in the 1590s, Hardwick’s orchards are full of various types of fruit from pear to greengage and damson, all of which play a part in the annual blossom display. These are complemented by some wonderful local varieties.
The two most local varieties are Newton Wonder which was developed in Melbourne and Bramley Seedling, which was developed by Mary Ann Brailsford in Southwell, Nottinghamshire.
Hardwick Hall’s South Lawn is filled with the abundant purple and white blooms of the magnolia trees, flowering throughout the spring season.
KEDLESTON HALL:
Blossom is one of the first signs that spring is well and truly on the way. Kedleston Hall’s Pleasure Grounds are home to a range of eye-catching blossom varieties including cherry, horse chestnut, apple and blackthorn, followed by purple and white wisteria later in the spring.