Wiltshire Gardens & Parks

From the This Is Wiltshire, first published Tuesday 31st Jan 2006.

Why not take a stroll through the snowdrops for some winter cheer? CATHERINE TURNBULL highlights three gardens.

IF you are a fan of snowdrops those first signs that the gloom of winter is on the wane there are three fabulous gardens famous for their varieties where the flowers have just pushed through.

Swindon's Lydiard Park has several varieties of snowdrops carpeting the grounds. Entry is free.

Painswick's Rococo Garden is a six-acre garden in a Cotswold valley which is a unique example of the brief period of English Rococo design dating to the 1740s.

It is popular in the summer for its beautiful layout and features, but at snowdrop time there is a flurry of visitors eager to see these special flowers that carpet the woodlands. The garden is open every day from 11am to 5pm and is on the B4073, half a mile from the village of Painswick. Entry is £5 for adults, £4 for over 60s and £2 for children aged five to 16. A family ticket for two adults and two children is £13.50.

There are snowdrop open days every Saturday and Sunday in February from 1pm at Colesbourne Park, halfway between Cirencester and Cheltenham on the A435. It is the home of the Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, Sir Henry Elwes, and his wife Carolyn.

The snowdrop collection there originated in plantings made by his ancestor Henry John Elwes, who in 1874 discovered galanthus elwesii while travelling in Western Turkey. Many of the plants today are hybrids descended from these plantings.

The current Elwes family have devoted much time in replanting and expanding the groups and now have 160 varieties. Entrance for the snowdrop days is £5 adults, children under 18 free. Dogs are allowed on leads.

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