plants

A magnificent northern garden

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A warm summer’s day is the perfect time to visit the RHS Bridgewater Garden in Salford, just a 30-minute bus ride from central Manchester. CONTINUES BELOW

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The garden, which opened last year, is on the site of stately pile Worsley New Hall.

Some of the old architecture remains, while there’s a sleek new building which houses visitor amenities.

Bridgewater’s focal point is a large walled garden which was bursting with plants and colourful blooms on my visit. It looks like it’s been established for decades, not just a couple of years.

Woodland and meadow trails are also part of the site, full of grasses and wild foxgloves as I wandered around the site.

RHS Bridgewater is already a huge success, with many visitors which I hadn’t expected. It was a challenge to take photographs giving the impression I had the place to myself!

Have you been to Bridgewater or another RHS garden? Share your thoughts below.

A pair of seats in the walled garden at RHS Bridgewater

There are plenty of spots to rest and enjoy the gardens

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A breath of wind

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The meadows are bursting with life. The grass is shooting up and is studded with buttercups, clover and clouds of cow parsley. They’re less prevalent in urban west London, so I found mine in the grounds of Eltham Palace, tucked away in the city’s south-east corner.

This involved a lot of lying in the grass and lengthening the exposure as much as possible to catch the grasses as a breath of wind-swept them into motion. I also tried some deliberate off focus to emulate the mood of a burgeoning summer.

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The Photo Shop

Urban allium

/ mikeosbornphoto / 11 Comments

Across the street here in west London there is a community garden. An oasis in a built-up area and a precious resource for the many people without their own outdoor space. There are swings and slides for the children, a pond, and a wealth of plants.

It’s also a place for me to come and do some macro photography. Walking through the other day, I noticed a clutch of allium bursting into life. These little lilac pom-poms – members of the onion family – are a delight to capture at close quarters. The lens revealed that these ones were still coming into their own. Enjoy a taste of nature and flowers in the city…

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Degenerated beauty

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Blackened by cold with wrinkled and withered ruby skin, far removed from its plump youth. But it holds onto its place in life and nature, next to the yellow vibrancy of a neighbouring clump of mimosa. 

Beautiful and intriguing enough to be captured, before its inexorable march towards death and disappearance.

Degenerated beauty

Dessicated trio

green

Narcissus

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Narcissus

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A snapshot of sunshine, colour and the first day of Spring in London. A crateload of daffodils are lined up to go on display. And it was that first day to warm the soul after a long, chilly and dank winter, with sun and temperatures as high as 17C.

But of course it didn’t last. We were robbed of the sunlight today. If it’s the last we ever see, then further photographs – coming here soon – will be all the more memorable.