I think abundance is the right term for Sezincote, this is a house and garden of glorious abundance. I first visited way back in 2012. I teased I would write about it, and I did, but not on this blog but for ThinkinGardens; so now twelve years later I make up for this diversion.
It is that time of year when I attend the Garden Museum's Literary Festival which is always a joy. This year I admit to not being totally in the right headspace for the weekend, but as ever the time away pushed me into a better mind and reset much of my balance.
As ever I am not going to talk about the talks, but it was a very good programme this year with (quite rightly) several of the talks being around Mughal gardens and India themes. As ever I learned things and as ever books were purchased as a result. I am easy prey for this sort of event.
Equally as ever I made the most of the actual location. I went on a tour of the house which was very interesting and very beautiful. The Indian influence does not flow through to the interior of the house which is much more Georgian in taste. It is a comfortable home, not as huge as many and very much with the feel of being family space.
There is much in the garden to delight. I start at elephants, these two are adorable. It is compulsory to admire them and photograph them.
Similarly if you do not photograph the Brahmin bulls on the bridge leading to the house I am sure they will send you back until you do (maybe.....).
The bridge itself is a wonder, sitting by if feels a cool resting place. Whilst some of these photographs show a cloudy sky be in no doubt, it was a warm couple of days.
The house was refashioned by Colonel John Cockerell into the Mogal design it now has in the late 1790s/early 1800s. When it was completed it was visited in 1807 by the Prince Regent and it heavily influenced the design of the Brighton Pavilion. The gardens take a lot of influence from the house and there are pools, streams and statement areas.
There are paths that lead you to discover and discover.
I found myself looking at this funghi for possibly a little too long, but look at the colours and the folds and the shapes.
But as you might expect it was the plants that really did it for me. I had serious orchid envy.
and Cornus envy,
The planting is sublime, I just loved it.
So many wonderful plants.
There are few things as beautful as Zantedeschia planted en-masse. A look I can only aspire to.
This path to the old dairy (what a dairy!!) is a joy of wildflowers and roses. On this warm day the scent of roses filled the air. Roses are quite a feature at Sezincote, there are many planted around the gardens mainly in informal situations and they look stunning.
