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| Beautiful daffodils in Exbury Gardens. - Click on the image above to see a larger photograph. |
The colours of spring, indoors and out, herald the start of the new season at Exbury, where the Rothschild family are marking the 90th anniversary of their ownership of the estate, bought by Lionel de Rothschild in 1919.
The family celebrations are tinged with sadness at the death of Edmund de Rothschild in January this year, days after his 93rd birthday.
It was ‘Mr Eddy’ who restored his father Lionel’s world-famous woodland garden, after the war and who first opened it to the public in 1955.
Mr Eddy received the Victoria Medal of Honour, the highest accolade awarded by the Royal Horticultural Society, in 2005.
Exbury opens at the beginning of March with hundreds of camellias in full bloom and the first of the daffodils, which will later fill the famous view down to the Beaulieu River with sheets of gold, just beginning to flower.
Inside, the Rothschild collection of rare Leopard Lilies, tender South African bulbs, in colours ranging from deep red to palest violet, is on display in the Five Arrows Gallery. Leopard Lilies flower through the winter to early spring.
The delicate spotting or mottling on the leaves of some species, like that of a leopard’s coat, has given rise to the popular name.
Primroses are beginning to bloom and the thousands of azaleas and rhododendrons are in bud, ready to burst into flower in a few weeks time.
“A walk through the Gardens in early spring is not only a delight in itself, but an exciting taste of things to come,” said head gardener John Anderson who is devising trails to guide visitors to the primroses and camellias.
“There’s plenty to see, the air is filled with birdsong and many plants are in full bloom.
The daffodil meadow is particularly good this year and, despite the hard winter I can tell we’re going to have a magnificent flowering season,” he said.
Railway enthusiasts will welcome greater access to the extended Engine Shed where they’ll be able to see a collection of memorabilia, models and interpretation.
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| lachanlias |
At the end of the month the popular Four Seasons artists exhibition opens, organised by Marianna Kneller, resident artist at Exbury Gardens from 1980-2004 and a founder member of the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA).
The group will show paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints and etchings based on the natural world, from the end of March until April 19 in the Five Arrows Gallery.
From May for five months the Five Arrows Gallery is host to a long-lost collection of historic photographic plates. These are some of about 700 ‘autochromes’ taken and developed by Lionel de Rothschild more than 100 years ago.
Other events planned for this year are the popular ‘Plant Hunter’ walks and talks, a Rhododendron Festival and a Tea Festival celebrating Britain’s favourite drink – and the plants that it comes from.
Exbury’s ‘Glory of the Garden’ – the colourful high season – runs from the last week in April through the whole of May.
Breakfast Walks, a Spring Craft Fair, railway events, including a new ‘woodland adventure’, open-air theatre, a photo trek, family trails and events for children will run throughout the season.
The hugely popular Ghost Trains and Santa Specials will steam through the Gardens at Hallowe’en and during December.
Exbury Gardens open on March 7th until November 8th.
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