Bowood 2015 #19: Rhododendron Gardens (25th April)

The Rhododendron Gardens opened for the season on Friday 24th but as I was in Devon this was my first opportunity, and having spent some six hours on the road the day before a ten minute hop to Bowood suited me very well as I intended to take it easy.

Inside the Rhododendron Gardens is a smaller three acre area called the Jubilee Garden that has been created over the last decade by Lord Lansdowne and his friend and gardener Bill Goddard. They felled the sycamores that covered the ground and cleared the ponticum, bracken and brambles; reshaped the stream that runs throught it and created a circular track around it. It is now a beautiful haven, carpeted by bluebells and primroses and planted with a variety of roses, azaleas and many other plants.

As I was sitting on a bench seat doing some reading, a Bowood truck pulled up and a gardener and a pack of Labradors emerged. One of them ran up to me and began barking at me until the gardener called it back, after I had called to it to be quiet.

Some time later he came over with a Labrador puppy to speak to me. By this time it was gently raining as he described the work being done on the site and invited my opinions on various aspects, and I gradually realised he was not a gardener but was Lord Lansdowne himself.

I took quite a few pictures practising more HDR techniques but was not as successful as on previous attempts and the blip of the tree stump in front of the bench seat and the stream beyond it was the only one worth keeping. However, there will be plenty of opportunities for more attempts.


L.
2.5.2015 (2127 hr)

Blip #1562 (#1812 including archived blips)
Consecutive Blip #004
Day #1858
LOTD #797 (#917 including archived blips)

Lens: Pentax 55-300 mm x1.4 rear converter

Bowood 2015 series
Bowood series
Bowood 2013-2015 (Flickr collection)(Work in progress)
HDR series
Outdoor Places I Have Sat In series

Also blipped today:
Westward Ho! (Friday 24th April 2015)

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Family Of The Year - Hero (2012)
In the evening I saw Richard Linklater's magnificent film Boyhood, from which this song is featured quite strongly.

One year ago:
Stratford-upon-Avon Canal