Wednesday 26 June 2013

You Can Leave Your Hat On...


... I believe he sang, Joe Cocker, all those years ago... 
And here, in my favourite garden, a hat may be advisable to shield you from the sun, but on some days you need not worry about any other clothing, as The Naked Gardeners welcome visitors in their birthday costumes on certain dates throughout the season...


However, on Friday last week when I revisited Abbey House Gardens in Malmesbury, it was a normal day, where the only nudity on display was offered by a few statues in the glorious, creative and inventive gardens that constitute this green gem. The photo above was taken from the tiny island in the river, a perfect spot from which to admire the majestic backside (no pun intended!) of the house.


I love the contrast of the wilder, "junglier" area down by the river, after having admired the slightly more formal garden rooms in front of the house. 

 


The sun loungers looked very appealing on this sunny day, as did a game of chess...


The front of the house is covered in an array of gorgeous green leaves and more colourful floral phenomena...







And when we sat down for a drink in the café by the koi carp pond, Robbie came to say hello. Well, Robbie admittedly seemed more interested in the biscuits my fellow garden admirers were munching than in any real bird-human bonding, but even so, I fell in love with this little feathery fellow!


Now look at those curves! I LOVE this section of the garden, with the funky gigantic green head, the lollipop trees and all the shaped box hedges and trees...!


Gorgeous giant poppies, red, pink and white, all looking as if made of silky paper...



Now, I am not the kind of girl who forces people to do things, nor do I tend to give unsolicited advice to my friends, but I may just have to make an exception here... You simply HAVE to visit this garden one day! It is a very special place and if you do not find at least one spot in the five acres of green loveliness that makes you weak at the knees or at least filled with a desire to plant your bottom on the lawn and just be for a moment, soaking up the view from your tranquil spot, well, then I am not sure what to say!

There are loads more photos from this garden under the heading Abbey House Gardens in my Categories - please feel free to browse them should you like to see more.

Blog posts are not exactly bombarding your screens from The Swenglish Home at the moment. Summer hibernation has set in, I am afraid, and I spend more hours outdoors than in at the moment, far, far away from screens and keyboards. I hope you are also enjoying the warmer season. A special thank you to all of your who still pop in to visit my quasi-dormant corner of the blog world, and a special-special thank you for kind comments!

With much love,
Helena

20 comments:

  1. What an amazing garden! I love the topiary and the hedges. Thank you for sharing.
    xo, Lissy

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  2. Jag skulle gärna besöka denna vackra trädgård,
    fast en dag när det är kläder på. Rolig idé med
    klädfritt men det skulle nog kännas rejält
    tokigt...fniss. Beundrar dina vackra foton som
    alltid, fågeln har du fångat så fint, han tittar
    på dig.
    Stor kram
    AnnaMaria

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  3. Oh yes! Håller helt och hållet med dig! En helt underbar trädgård som jag ju hade nöjet att få besöka tillsammans med dig :-) Förstår att du återvänder dit under säsongen.
    Vilken helt underbar iris. Blev tokkär.

    Stooor kram
    Charlotte

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  4. I've always wanted to visit this garden - I've read about it a lot. We go to the Womad festival each year and it's nearby, so one year..... Lovely photos. It looks stunning. Thanks for sharing - and thanks for your comment on mine. Have a lovely summer yourself! Abby x

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  5. En helt underbar trädgård! Vilken frodig grönska och en härlig lekfullhet i figurerna!!
    Jag kan tro att du njöt här! Tackar för tipset och det njutningsfulla bilderna!
    Kramar
    Lisa

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  6. Great photos Helena, as usual, giving a perfect impression of this lovely garden. What a (deserved) promotion!

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  7. A lovely garden! Hihi, I've got some problems imagining it as comfortable to do the gardening naked...just think at the roses *autsch*. :o) However the garden is stunning and I hope that one day I may be able to visit it.
    Here temperature is still cold and the only differences to winter are the lack of snow (well in the mountains not even that) and the days are longer :o). I just hope that summer will come... at least for one or two days *LoL* before winter starts again.
    Enjoy your summer!
    Alex

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  8. Hvor er det smukt, desværre står denne have ikke på programmet på min Engelseke Haver-rund-rejse i år..... Jeg håber, for The Naked Gardeners, at der ikke er tidsler i haven :) :)

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  9. Wowwww...beautiful...!!...love Ria...x !

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  10. Hej Helena,

    Åååh denna underbart vackra trädgård! Sätter jag någon gång foten i England så står Abbey House Gardens högt på listan. Man blir ju bara lite nyfiken på hur det ser ut inuti deras enorma hus också... Såg ett inslag med dom på TV för ett tag sen och tack vare dig kände jag igen det direkt - och jaa, de hade födelsedagskostymen på sig, haha! Reportern såg aningen obekväm ut, fniss.

    Ha nu en fortsatt fin sommar!
    Njut och var ute så mycket det går.
    Kram Sanna

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  11. A lovely garden. If I ever get to England, it will be on my list of places to visit. Not on nudist day, though. Could get prickly.
    The curvy garden is so fascinating. I love the way they carried out the theme.

    Enjoy summer! It's raining here on Canada's west coast and I'm hoping the skies let up soon.

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  12. Hi, Helena,
    best wishes from Germany. I was enjoying your photos thinking of the holidays to come. Four weeks left - and then we´ll see England again ;-) In Germany this week was rainy and cold but the weekend and the next week seem to get better. This year is a strawberry year - never before we had so many berries in our garden... Seems that the rain has made it grow better..
    Hugs,Claudia

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  13. Dear Helena, the time has come to finally tell you the truth. I am truely, madly, deeply in LOVE with not only your pictures but also your wonderful words. I am sadly bound to Germany (born here, still studying and loving my dear family) BUT, if this is in anyway possible without having british relatives, my soul seems to be british and my heart beats for all those gorgeous and lovely places all over England. My husband (lucky one, he actually has english relatives) and I spent last year our honeymoon in England and I gave it a thought (or two) to just not go back home. So, to sum it all up and get to the point: THANK YOU for giving me a little piece of this beloved country and doing a great job on that!!! Yours, Nadine

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  14. That is SO gorgeous garden and only in England you can find places like that. I talked with my friend one day and we made a promise that some point we come to England and take a garden tour around south England. I don't know how we do it , driving a car is out of the question but somehow:)
    Love Henrietta

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  15. Helena, I would love to visit this garden. I especially like the photo with the window peeking out from behind the lush greenery and bright flowers.

    -Karen

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  16. Ser ut som vår hage...,NOT:-). Du tar utrolig vakre bilder, Helena!! Håper du og guttene snart har sommerferie, den starter vel senere i England?? Her striregner det, skikkelig norsk sommer...
    Klem♥

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  17. Jag blir alltid helt stum när jag ser trädgårdarna du visar! Det liknar inte något jag sett här hemma och du har en fantastisk förmåga att bjuda på trädgårdarnas skönhet genom kameran. Alltid gott att titta in till dig!
    Kram Maria

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