Wealie's World » flowers

A bit of colour to chase away the winter blues

Ruth Weal — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:10:28 +0000

I always find February to be the most difficult month to get through in the year; Christmas is long gone and the first flush of spring colour in March seems a long way away. So, to brighten my day and hopefully yours I thought I’d share a few of my favourite colourful captures from spring/summer 2011.

Wealie x

Inside the Lily - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Firery Lily - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Yellow Drop Blooms - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Macro pale pink and yellow lily - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Red Poppy - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Pink Lilies Emerging - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Hydranga - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Tiny Pinks - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Light red blooms - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Lovely Lily - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Orange Poppies - Copyright R.Weal 2011

An Afternoon at Heale Gardens

Ruth Weal — Sat, 21 May 2011 00:01:16 +0000

Heale Gardens Iron Gate - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Here’s the first in my Wealie Nice Places To Visit series of
articles. The aim of these articles is to give you a feel for
the places I visit in words and images, a bit of the history and the pros and cons of visiting as I see them. I hope you will be inspired to visit one or two of those places after reading my articles. Anyway, let’s get on with talking about Heale Gardens.

With the two long weekends of 4 days a piece in April I had lots of opportunities to get out and about during the Easter and May Day weekend. One of the places I chose to go was Heale Gardens. Heale is a lovely late 16th century private house and gardens situated in the Woodford Valley near Salisbury, Wiltshire.

A Magnolia's Secret - Copyright R.Weal 2011

What people visit Heale for most is its gardens; many generations of the still resident Rasch family have created and developed the gardens we see today. The house is also famous for having been one of the places where Charles the II took refuge on his flight from the country. Charles II spent 6 nights at Heale on his way to Shoreham and then onto France in October 1651.

On entering the garden you walk through a beautiful meadow full of gorgeous wild flowers and grasses. The managed orchards are full with beautiful fruit-bearing trees, grown to form lush archways where shade loving blooms can thrive.

Ferns on the River Bank - Copyright R.Weal 2011

To your right the river Avon flows through the bottom of the garden splitting into a number of tributaries to make an amazing riverbank landscape through the woodland garden, with it’s abundance of ferns and Spanish bells. Beautiful wisterias climb the walls and archways and intricate ironwork decorates the gates that break up the different elements of the gardens.

Heale House Wisteria - Copyright R.Weal 2011

It takes approximately an hour to walk round the gardens at a leisurely pace, but there’s no time limit to how long you may spend in the gardens. Many people come with a picnic blanket and a good book to absorb the wonderful sense of peace, tranquillity and relaxation that the gardens are bound to inspire in you.

The crumbling stonework and ornate rusting iron gates exude a sense of dignified decay, lending an indefinable air of ‘times gone by’ to the gardens. It’s not hard to imagine the quintessentially English corseted ladies and proper English gentlemen living a lifestyle most of us would never have been able to experience except through great BBC period dramas!

Stone Pot Detail - Copyright R.Weal 2011

In terms of amenities there’s a lovely coffee shop with indoor and outdoor seating to accommodate the moody British weather. In the coffee shop you will receive a very warm welcome and reasonably priced and exceptionally well presented home made food that is in my opinion is to die for! Whether it’s a full lunch, a lite bite or just a cup of tea and a slice of cake (I heartily recommend the warm scones!) there will be something to whet your appetite.

Green and white drops - Copyright R.Weal 2011

As well as food, the coffee shop also has an array of home produce, gifts, gardening items, knick knacks and greeting cards for sale that are fun to browse through and again reasonably priced. On top of the coffee shop there’s also a small nursery where you can buy some of the beautiful blooms and shrubs you see in the gardens at prices that are great for the size and quality of the plants you buy – some of which are now gracing my own garden.

Buttercups close up - Copyright R.Weal 2011

The house itself is not open to the public and as the family is in residence there are areas of the garden where the public are not allowed to enter to protect the privacy of the Rasch family home. Unfortunately the gardens are not particularly suitable for wheelchair access or individuals with severe mobility impairment, however you can experience much of the garden’s beauty by just sitting out in the coffee shop garden area, as long as you watch out for the crafty Robin with designs on your cake crumbs!

Iron Gate Close Up - Copyright R.Weal 2011

From February and October the gardens are open to the public between 10 am and 5 pm, Wednesday to Sunday (not Monday or Tuesday, except Bank Holidays). Entrance is reasonably priced at £4.50 for adults and £2.50 for kids. All in all Heale Gardens is a lovely place to spend some relaxation time, whether you are walking round the gardens or just popping to the coffee shop for a cream tea and a mosey round the nursery. It’s well worth a visit if you are in the area and a great place to while away a morning or afternoon.

Below are some of my favourite pictures from my afternoon at Heale and you can see the rest in my flickr photo set Heale Gardens.

Happy visiting!

Wealie x

Cherry Blossom - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Seed Pods - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Thistle Bud - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Fern Dancing - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Lone White Heart - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Spring’s In My Garden!

Ruth Weal — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 22:23:51 +0000

Opening - Copyright R.Weal 2011

You’d be forgiven for thinking that winter has not yet abandoned
the UK, what with the frosty mornings and murky grey skies we’ve
been experiencing the last few weeks. However, the signs are out that Spring is with us, subtle for the most part, the new leaves are on the Willow – that earlier risers of the deciduous trees, there are pockets of colour on the verges from the flowering spring bulbs, buds are burgeoning on bush and tree. A brighter shade of green can be seen creeping across the grass lawns and meadows, blossoms dot the cherry trees and the gorse bush shines with the first flush of its golden glory.

My back garden is no exception to the rule, in fact it seems that in my garden Spring is in full force. The bulbs my Dad planted for me back in November have shot up from their sleepy beds in a riot of shapes, colours and shades. Below are a few pics I took of the tulips, crocus and narcissus that are now growing strong in the face of the frosty mornings and murky days in my little back garden.

If you find yourself getting down during the cold and murky weather take a moment to really look around and see those signs that Spring is alive all about you and remember that summer is just around the corner, especially seeing as we’ve just past the vernal equinox!

Wealie x

Purple Crocuses - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Daffy - Copyright R.Weal 2011

White and Purple Striped Crocuses - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Rhubarb & Custard Tulips - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Purple Crocus - Copyright R.Weal 2011

My Lovely Tulips - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Double Narcissus - Copyright R.Weal 2011

Drain My Colour, But You Will Not Steal My Beauty

Ruth Weal — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:02:43 +0000

I was very pleased how this picture came out, it was originally pink, which those of you who know me will be aware is not my favourite colour. I was surprised how nice it looked in sepia though, it gave it an added softness and dreamy quality, which then inspired the short poem beneath it “Drain My Colour, But You Will Not Steal My Beauty”. I hope you enjoy the photo and the poetry.

Wealie x

YOU WILL NOT STEAL MY BEAUTY

Drain my colour, but you will not steal my beauty
Pierce my heart, but you will not take my love
Take my freedom, but you will not break my will
Steal my breath, but you will not capture my heart

Autumnal Blooms

Ruth Weal — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 23:21:29 +0000

I’ve heard a number of people lament the lack of blooms in the UK after September. Well I went out for a quick photography trip this afternoon as it was a lovely sunny evening and guess what…..I found loads of flowers still in bloom!

I’ve uploaded them to flickr in the set Autumnal Blooming in Salisbury. Here are a few of my favourites, as you can see I had trouble choosing!

I hope my blooms bring a little bit of joy to you.

Wealie x

Macro images of nature

Ruth Weal — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 18:33:34 +0000

When I got my macro lens, my photography went to a whole new level! This is one of the macro shots that I’m most proud of.

I took this on a lovely sunny July day in 2008 in the New Forest, Hampshire, UK. The thistle is a very beautiful bloom and highly prevalent in the New Forest.

Bees are a regular visitor to the thistles and this little visitor was very obliging, allowing me to take a number of shots which can be found in my flickr set New Forest July 2008.

You’ll also find a number of other fauna in the set including a beetle, hoverfly and a herd of deer. It was definitely a good day for photography.

Perfection’s Promise

Ruth Weal — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 01:59:39 +0000

I love crocuses, they are such beautiful flowers and bring such hope, they’re one of the first flowers of spring and bring the promise of the warmth and colour of the summer to come.

Here in Britain they shoot up around February to March and you can see a variety of shades of purple, white and yellow blooms. They’re very prevalent in the UK as they are a popular perennial that people plant in gardens and places of interest, but occasionally you see them in a more wild setting and they are just as beautiful.

It was a very sunny day when I took this picture and I love the shadows and sheen from the reflections, it all seems to enhance the natural beauty and delicacy of the blooms.