Last year, we were locked for for the first few months of the year, and I was able to take some walks and explore some places around my local area. Eastcote House Gardens was one of those places, and I immediately fell in love with the place; it became a firm favourite place to me. I first visited Eastcote House Gardens on New Year's Eve in 2020 during the lockdown. As I visited often throughout last year, I thought that I should post some photographs of the gardens changing throughout the different seasons. (Admittedly, I did visit at least once a month, but I visited less often in the summer as things started to reopen and I had a lot of annual leave to use.) My favourite month at Eastcote House Gardens was April, which I am sure you can see why with the beautiful tulips and spring colour below.
January: The gardens looked pretty bare in January. There was not a lot of colour, and the overcast sky provided a muted landscape. Some of the plants had left to dry, such as seedum, which flourishes in the early autumn. The gardens were hibernating with some green shrubbery to add form but otherwise waiting for the spring. On one of these January Friday afternoons, I watched a little robin hop around on the ground near me. I felt relaxed and took my time to unwind, content in my life despite the pandemic and feeling lucky and optimistic about the months ahead. Unfortunately, things did not last long, but I was content. January is normally a time that is unkind to me.
Early February: Early February was not much different to January in the gardens, and I know that the sunshine does make a difference. The trees were starting to bud slightly, and a sunny day brought more people to the gardens. The gardens looked a little greener, but this may be from the sunshine.
Late February: I visited two or three times in February and watched the gardens come to life as the month progressed. Early miniature daffodils and other spring flowers began to emerge from the ground in promise that spring was coming and winter was ending. The plants grew, producing green shoots. The gardens were coming to life again and spring was emerging.
Early March: The daffodils continued to bloom sunny yellow heads throughout the gardens. They looked the best in the sunlight. Different varieties of the daffodils were emerging.
Late March: By late March, the daffodils had seen their peak in the gardens and were beginning to die off for the next star of the show in the gardens. Spring had arrived, and I was eager to see the next phase of the gardens, although they did look bare in late March once the daffodils had finished.
Early April: Spring was firmly in progress, and a few new different varieties of plant and flower emerged in the gardens, bringing different colours of orange and red and white and yellow. The garden was starting to fill out again with promise of the months ahead. The first of the tulips were emerging now.
Mid-April: The middle of April was the highlight for me. The tulips were out in their full glory with other spring flowers in amazing bright colours.
Late April: The end of April was another key change in the gardens with the tulips on their way out and the gardens looking ready to transform again. I was sad to see the tulips on their way out, but I waited for the next transformation.
Early May: Early May brought the purple irises and lillies out along with other colours of irises and flowers. A few of the remaining late variety of tulips were still in bloom as well. A lot of bright colours were visible in the gardens. The weather was not great with a lot of cloudy skies, but the gardens still looked beautiful with more plant growth and colour.
Late May: Roses and more plant colour continued to transform the gardens throughout May. Still technically spring, the gardens were looking healthy. The wisteria was also out in bloom, and I enjoyed a slice of cake in the gardens.
Mid-June: Spring was nearly over now, and the gardens were looking beautiful with a new range of flowers and plants taking the centre stage. The wisteria was almost over in bloom, and roses and lavender were in abundance. The gardens were looking very green and lush.
Late June: It was firmly the summer now. The gardens were looking perfect with so many different types of plants in bloom. It was a popular place, especially on the sunny days. In the summer, finding a place to park was difficult.
Late July: I missed the plants on show in early July, but late July was another transformation in the gardens with many of the plants not as full as they had once been, but the colour was very much alive despite the garden not looking quite as green.
Mid-August: With autumn quickly approaching, the colour in the gardens was not quite what the early summer had been. The late summer plants were in bloom now.
Mid-September: The autumn had arrived, and the summer plants were on their way out. The autumn colour and plants had arrived. The gardens still looked nice, but they were beginning to look autumnal with many autumn plants in bloom - asters, seedum, cosmos.
Early October: The plants were still in bloom but looking very autumnal by the middle of October. The bees were loving the flowers and making the most of obtaining the pollen. Some of the foilage and plants were drying and transforming into reds and browns, looking less full as they did in their height of early summer. There was still a lot of wonderful and bright colour.
Mid-October: The seasons change quickly once the transformation begins. Even a week makes a big difference. Blooms of some of the flowers had disappeared and were drying up, and the leaves were changing colour. The seedum changed from its bright red blooms to a muted red colour.
Early November: By early November, a lot of the leaves had fallen off the trees. The blooms had also fallen or dried further. The garden was beginning to look bare again, ready to quietly go to sleep.
Late November: By late November, the colour drained further, and the trees were bare. The plants were all drying out and dying. It was the last hurrah!
Early December: The end of the autumn was approaching, and the garden was looking empty with the final plants drying out.
Late December: Winter settled in now, and the garden had some dry stems remaining, but it was looking very bare and tired, calming down before starting the new year where there would be more transformations and bright colours in the months ahead.
I loved visiting this garden throughout the year, and it helped to calm me during the long months of the lockdown in 2021.
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