The Newt - First year of Membership

 After visiting The Newt early summer with our Wells WI gardening group, I decided it would be lovely to join up and so Mr S and I treated ourselves to a year's membership. Ouch!  But it has been well worth it, and we have now visited several time, including having lunches, teas and cake at the Gardening History complex and nibbles from the outside bar.  Not all on the same occasion.

At every turn there is something to enthral from the smallest details such as the paving, which varies around the many walkways

In the Parobola is this maze of apples, the concept being inspired by gardens of the Baroque Period.  When seating and sculpture celebrate the apple.

The apple trees are arranged and named, and themselves with skill and patience have been pressed into service into many forms and structures such as this Open Urn shape from just the one tree.

And will Eve the Duck be chased from the gardens for having tasted the 'forbidden fruit'?

The Parobola is not just about apple trees, carefully trimmed hedges and water features add a formality with a great sense of scale with differing views all around.

There are several ways of approaching The Story of Gardening.  This sinuous walkway built high amongst the tree tops is my favourite.

The first of our visits was merely exploratory and it wasn't until the third visit that we had time to visit The Story of Gardening, and then only half of it! Built into the hill side, or at least the earth may have been moved to cover the roof completely it is not visible from many of the paths.

We visited in August and looking back on that sun drenched day now you can see the gardens in peak summer growth. The Colour gardens separated with by woven fences through which the path meanders still have a sense of fun with peep holes...

In the  red garden movement of seed heads and grasses separate out yet enhance the strong reds.

In the Cottage Garden there is a quaint thatched cottage surrounded by beds all planted up with interesting shrubs and plants.

This has become one of our favourite places to sit and rest or even better enjoy a delicious ice cream from the gelateria where you can see the ice cream being freshly made.

This is the back entrance to the Greenhouse 

The entrance on this side leads you through a good collection of well grown cacti and succulents 

With seating in the glass house you can enjoy the climbers and maybe have a rest or enjoy a snack on cloudier or cooler days.

Inside the Greenhouse even the grill on the drainage channel has enchanting apple details.

Within the woodland areas are stumperies and fine tree specimens

We decided to leave our first visit to the Japanese garden for a later visit

There are sun-drenched beds and cooling ponds

More details of the gardens on further posts as and when.

These are the most enchanting of gardens, and really sufficient for several visits, it would be exhausting to cover the whole lot in one go, indeed this is a garden in which to linger and enjoy small areas, making the return visits something very much to be looked for to.