The Hidden gardens at Plas Cadnant

 

Mop heads abound in this garden radiating purples, blues and white. With a back drop of the late flowering Aliums, Nepeta and herbs, the imagery is picturesque.

A garden created around greens and textures; a set of vistas which, depending upon the time of year, must shift and change. I can imagine how this would look in the autumn when the colours start to flood the trees, and the unfurling of the leaves in Spring when they have that lime green cleanness reflecting their newness into a new year of growth. I wondered how many produced blossom and how that must change the vista.

One thing this garden does not lack its rocks, what it does magnificently is manage with extremely thin soils, but its enough and the procession of decay and renewal maintains a dense undergrowth perfectly suited to the environment.

Walking down the '39 Steps' I came to the base of the ravine and the shallow lake. I have no idea what or if there were any fish because the water continuously agitated the surface but the sounds and smells were magnificent.

Everywhere you went you could feel the water in the air and its iron content is what gives the hydrangeas their extraordinary blue. This was not the garden of agapanthus, pineapple plants and date palms but one of mosses, lichens, liverworts and ferns.

When I think all of this is the creation of one man, its frightening. How long and how many hours has he put into this place? I do believe he gets some help these days but in the beginning it was a one man love affair with the potential of what was buried here. Now it's a treasure trove of what you can do with a ravine, a stream and loads of steps.

Let's face it, it would have been rude not to stop here, at the only place where the station name is almost as long as the platform itself. We couldn't go into the shop, sadly, covid wouldn't allow us that privilege and to be honest the place was heaving with people all doing the same as us, so it was a photo opportunity and then back on the bus.