During our week off we spent a day at the beautiful Exbury Gardens. It was our first time visiting, despite it only being a few miles from home. Sometimes it is all too easy to forget about these local treasures and we thought was about time we remedied this. They are also dog friendly, so it was the perfect destination for a relaxing day out
The first dose of loveliness was from the nursery, which was crammed full of peonies, so my heart was all a flutter!
Especially when we found the one and only remaining Sarah Bernhardt peony which is the same variety that was used for my wedding bouquet. Needless to say, we snapped it up immediately!
Poppy getting to know her namesake
The grand house transported me to Agatha Christie’s novels. Can’t you just imagine a party gone awry and the inimitable Miss. Marple or Hercule Poirot finding out all of the secrets and lies?!
Our intrepid adventurer taking a peek at the little waterfall
I found this Wisteria Alba completely and utterly enchanting. The fragrance was divine and the unusual white flowers were so delicate and pretty
Exbury are famous for their vast collection of Rhododendrons and this was one of my favourites
Walking downhill through a woodland brought us to this stunning view of Beaulieu river
The gardens also have the most adorable miniature steam railway
I have always wanted to be a passenger on a steam train, and even though it wasn’t quite the luxurious steam travel I wanderlust after, it was very good fun!
Poppy raring to go
Then we were on our way back to the sweetest train station, ready to pick up our Peony from the nursery
We had such a lovely day walking around the gardens admiring the beauty and then the adorable miniature steam train was the icing on the cake! We will definitely visit again, perhaps in the autumn for those vibrant colours or in spring for the bluebells!
What a wonderful adventure! My heart was aflutter too. Like you, peonies are my fave. We had a similar wisteria tree in our yard where I grew up in NJ but it was purple. We had poppies too. My dad was called Poppy by my nephew and one day he asked about the flowers. I said they're poppies. After that he always assumed they were Poppy's flowers. I don't know if he thought they specifically belonged to my dad or were named for him. I always remember that sweet moment when I see them. They're the state flower of CA. Poppy seems to have enjoyed her adventure. She's a well traveled dog! Glad you had such a wonderful time! And now you'll always have that remembrance of your wedding bouquet right outside your door. ♥
I love this so much!!!! I'm so delighted to see flowers and sunshine and joy and light! I'm happy to see you happy and enjoying the blessings of Nature and Love!! I'm thrilled to see goodness and pretty and colors and fun! Thank you for sharing your joy!!
Looks like you had a lovely time in beautiful Exbury Gardens! We often don't have to venture very far to see the beauty in our own backyard! The miniature stream train is adorable! Perfect day! xx
Thank you Nancy! It was lovely to read about your adoration for flowers and the connection with your Dad too 🙂
Poppy had a great time, she was sniffing flowers all day and seemed to take the train in her stride!
♥
Thank you so much Joann!
Sharing these little snippets of joy whenever and wherever I can, no matter how frivolous they may be, certainly makes my feel happy! I am so pleased you enjoy these little moments too 🙂
Thank you so much Rosinda!
You are absolutely right, we are surrounded by beauty and we often tend to overlook those closet to home!
xx