A spell of cold but sunny weather prompted me to make my annual trip to see the snowdrops at Rode Hall. I arranged to meet a friend who lives nearby and we strolled round having a chatty catch up whilst enjoying the carpets of flowers. Snowdrops, of course, but also cyclamen coum, some early daffodils and species crocus.
Prunus x blireana
We were drawn towards a small tree with delicate pink blossom. I wasn’t sure what it was (my friend was not impressed!) and was pleased when another tree further along the path had a label attached – Prunus x blireana. I looked it up later that day and the RHS describe it as a small deciduous tree or large shrub with slightly fragrant, double, rosy-pink flowers 3cm across, these appear with the leaves in early to mid-spring; the leaves are red-purple at first, becoming dark green in summer. Also known as the Blireana plum.
Daphne bholua
I wouldn’t plant the plum for its scent, more for its delicate early blossom. Nothing can compare with the perfume provided by Daphne bholua at Rode Hall. There are several large specimens in and around the courtyard and everyone stops for a sniff. They can be twiggy shrubs with scant leaf cover, but you can forgive them a slight ungainliness when you experience the perfume. They are also very good in shade.
The Italian garden off the courtyard is an intriguing space set inside the walls of a ruined building. Apart from a huge Daphne, there is a curious old cupboard used to display jars of snowdrops, showing the difference in size, colour and shape between different named types. A nice touch that has a different display each year.
Woven willow pheasants
New for this year was the addition of some woven willow animals to the woodland garden created by Redstone Willow, Alsager. I enjoyed coming across the pheasants posed as if pecking through the undergrowth and the fox hurrying up the steep bank who looked as if he’d been up to no good.
Trained pear tree at Rode Hall
Our walk round took us through the walled kitchen garden which is just perfect, even with bare winter soil. There’s still plenty to admire with immaculately trained fruit trees and a greenhouse to nip into when the wind gets a bit keen. The rhubarb was starting to grow away and we took a peep inside a forcing pot. It made me look forward to that unique taste that I’ll be able to savour before too long.
Having lunched in the cafe earlier in our visit, we wandered back up the drive towards All Saint’s church at Scholar Green where my friend told me we could get excellent cake. No garden visit is complete without tea and cake! She was right and it was hard to choose. The church is decorated with snowdrops and evergreens during the snowdrop walks and is well worth a visit.
Shrug off the winter and head outside I say. Signs of spring are there to be found and if it starts to rain, find some comforting cake.
