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Year Round Beauty In The Harrogate District

Year-round beauty in the Harrogate district

Date Posted: Thursday 5th May 2022

Harrogate is a floral district with an abundance of gardens to visit that bring colour and splendour all year round. Here are just some of the horticultural highlights that you can enjoy across the seasons.

Spring around Harrogate

Spring sees the Stray in Harrogate town centre carpeted with welcoming purple crocus; Goldsborough Hall near Knaresborough grows an impressive 100 different varieties of snowdrops and Beningbrough Hall, Gallery and Gardens is home to thousands of daffodils.

RHS Garden Harlow Carr bursts into life with hyacinths, scillas, trilliums and chinodoxa. Take a stroll on the Woodland Walk and you will also see blossom of cherries, magnolia and rhododendrons.

The striking blue mecanopsis poppy is at RHS Garden Harlow Carr and the Himalayan Garden & Sculpture Park where you will find over 20,000 rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias flowering in late spring.

New for 2022 at the Himalayan Gardens is an art installation featuring 1280 ceramic blue poppies cascading through the woodland.

The last weekend in April usually brings the famous cherry blossom out on the Stray in Harrogate popular for romantic walks and photo opportunities. Visit Harrogate’s Instagram keeps blossom watchers up to date with the progress of the buds before they bloom, making sure you get there in time for the perfect snap.

Follow @visitharrogate #blossomwatch

Summer

In summer the spectacular double herbaceous border at Newby Hall & Gardens flourishes to its full height and blooms with a striking modern colour palette that continues to flower throughout the season.

The Kitchen Garden at Rudding Park is full of salad and herbs for the chef to pick and use in the Horto restaurant. Non-residents are welcome to wander around the 52 raised beds, admire the precise planting and take in the fragrant aromas.

Valley Gardens in Harrogate are beautiful in the summer when the flowerbeds are in full colour, the dahlias are particularly stunning and families can enjoy the play park, crazy golf, paddling pool, ice creams and summer events programme including Jubilee in the Gardens 2nd - 5th June - four days of free family fun including live music, family entertainment and fairground rides.

If you are looking for some shade on a hot summer’s day head to the Himalayan Garden & Sculpture Park and explore 45 acres of peaceful woodland valley with vibrant gardens and over 80 unique contemporary sculptures.

Autumn

The views from the high ride walk at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden are hard to beat for stunning autumnal colours with the russet and golden leaves of the trees reflected in the water features below.

In September Beningbrough Hall, Gallery and Gardens harvests the fruit from over 50 apple trees along with other produce from the walled garden.

The Rudding Park kitchen garden will also be harvesting produce in abundance every autumn. Why not try something seasonal from the restaurant menu after a tour of the vegetable beds?

The Autumn Flower Show is held at Newby Hall and Gardens and is an opportunity to visit both the stunning garden and update your own knowledge, gardening equipment and plant stocks in one fun filled and inspirational day out.

Winter

Throughout the winter at RHS Garden Harlow Carr the range of colours and textures of the shrubs and ornamental grasses become the stars of the show. The garden is also dramatically lit up during the evenings of the Glow event illuminating a walk through the planting and allowing a fresh perspective for a magical experience.

At Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden frosty morning walks are enjoyed in the company of the animals in the deer park, in contemplative reflection by the water or waiting for the first of thousands of snowdrops and daffodils to signal that the new horticultural year is beginning.

Discover more about our glorious gardens and start planning your next visit at visitharrogate.co.uk/love-gardens