We just had a lovely day out. I can persuade our daughters to enjoy a garden visit if there is a) cake or b) the beach at the end of it. Today it was b).
We visited The Salutation in Sandwich.
This garden inspires adventure.
These might be stegosaurus spines behind the dahlias.
It is as lush and jungly as Dixter (see my previous post, Into the Jungle), but with a more islandy feel. It’s as if we are spotting these shores from a canoe.
We swam ashore and started exploring the flora and fauna.
We weren’t sure if this was dangerous.
The colours were incredible.
We all followed our noses, indulging our senses, calling to one another, meeting and parting again.
There was so much to explore! Things to touch, see, smell…
Knowing my dahlia fetish, the girls called me over when the found a particular delicacy.
I thought I’d died and gone to heaven with that last one.
We meandered over to the perennial borders.
At least I did. The girls got slightly waylaid by the mulberry tree.
I like peeking though flowerbeds. Seeing gardeners at work.
They’re still there.
Mulberries are the best of fruit. They have a meaty, savouriness alongside the wicked juiciness. I did join in with a bit of mischief here.
Then there were a few cartwheels. There has to be cartwheels.
Whilst I enjoyed a bit more ‘looking through’.
Oh look, a tiny bit more mischief.
I love this arrangement of pots. Thankfully no mischief here.
We made our way past the lavender walk. My eldest told me to take a photo here.
Onto the trial beds of dahlias. I lost them again here.
I liked this free spirit.
When I visit a garden with just one of the children, we chat all the way around. When I visit a garden with the three of them, they chat, spin, dance, sing, climb, crawl, cartwheel and weave their way around. I catch glimpses, hear snatches, just get a whiff of the mischief going on.
Which is the way it should be.
I promise, another post is coming with all the gorgeous dahlia photos. If you don’t want to miss a post, then you can click the ‘Follow’ button at the bottom of this page and you will receive an email when I publish a new post.
The Mindful Gardener 
Ah, mischief making – those were the days! And what a lovely garden it was made in…
It is one of my favourites.
Inspirational garden well photographed and described
Thank you Derrick.
It is a lovely garden and full of so many interesting plants and colours. Love the way you show us glimpses of the family without showing them at all. And nothing like a garden visit followed by the beach. And an ice-cream 🙂
I am enjoying blurry figures in the background!
Beautiful photos Ali! Looks like you all had your fill of mischief, but I like your kind the best.
Love the title! And love those dahlias. It was a visit to The Salutation that inspired me to grow red Honkas! A great garden.
I need a red Honka!!
Can’t …yes I do.wait for the next installment but this was a fun trip.I need a mulberry tree
Unfortunately they take a few years to fruit!
Well that is backward. I need a mulberry tree…yes I do.
I’d love to visit this garden, thanks for the tour.
The only time I’ve come across gardeners working away during tours is on visits to Butchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C., Canada. Your zinnias and dahlias (or the ones you saw on this tour) are gorgeous and remind me I’d forgotten to plant any this past spring in my English perennial beds. Next year.
What a wonderful day in that spectacular garden. If there were cartwheels then at least they weren’t protesting they were bored.
I felt like I was walking round with you. Fantastic and emotive!
Lovely as ever. Your descriptions of canoeing and the stegosaurus are so original and evocative. Must catch up on all your posts I’ve missed while I’ve been away
❤️🌈
I love the bee pictures in this one, and I also loved the photos in which the flowers in the foreground were crisp and clear and the people in the background were a little blurry. That was a really nice juxtaposition.
That delighted me too Shelly. I feel a little uncomfortable posting pics of people, especially children, so this is a good solution!
That completely makes sense. I have that same thing–I post so many pictures to social media, but I rarely do it of people because it just feels like an invasion of privacy except for in very specific circumstances. You are a really good photographer.
Thank you Shelly! Writing my blog has really encouraged me.