The walled garden at Colby…
This was my first visit to Colby Woodland Garden, near Amroth in Pembrokeshire, for decades. So it was my first visit with a digital camera. The garden is run by the National Trust, who took it over in 1979.
As well as a sheltered, wooded valley, there is a more formal walled garden, which is where we started.
There are lots of Fuchsias…
For some reason this little cherub reminds me of the prehistoric Venus of Willendorf! Google it if you don’t know what I mean…
Dovecote in the walled garden…
Bumble bee…
Pretty pink Phlox…
Feathery golden grass…
Very blue conifer…
In a corner of the walled garden stands a splendid gazebo…
Montbretia (Crocosmia) beside the gazebo…
American artist Lincoln Tabor painted the interior of the gazebo to give a trompe l’oeil or “trick of the eye” effect…
Trompe l’oeil effect in the gazebo…
The effect was so realistic that a poor little goldcrest seemed trapped in the gazebo, unable to find the real door. I do hope it escaped eventually…
A not-very-good picture of the goldcrest up on the light fitting inside the gazebo…
This is the view of Colby Lodge through the REAL door of the gazebo…
Astilbe…
A nice combination of lavender and grey…
Medlar tree (Mespilus germanica)…
I love day lilies (Hemerocallis) – although these were near the end of their summer days…
Another day lily…
Another good combination of colours – Pittosporum and Hydrangea…
Fuchsia in the walled garden…
Colby Woodland Garden is named after early owner John Colby (1751-1823), who mined coal here in the 1790s. There are capped-off mine shafts, but I didn’t spot any of them.
John Colby was a colonel and Governor of Haverfordwest Castle and he led the local militia against the last French invasion of Britain in 1797. The French surrendered.
Across a meadow to the West Wood at Colby…
The house – Colby Lodge – was built between 1802 and 1805 but is not open to the public. In 1873 a pharmacist from Stockport, near Manchester, bought the lodge after enjoying his holidays in nearby Tenby. This was Samuel Kay, who began to develop the gardens. The work was continued by his descendants.
Looking back at Colby Lodge from the West Wood…
Then in 1965 the house and garden were sold to Peter Chance, a director of the Christie’s auction house, and his wife Pamela. His real name was Ivan Oswald Chance and his initials can be seen on the memorial he raised to his wife in the West Wood after her death in the early 1980s. He died soon after.
One of their bequests was money to plant Rhododendrons in the woods – but of course the flowers were well over by the time we visited in late summer.
A circle of metal pillars in memory of Pamela Chance…
Mr Chance’s initials, IOC, can be seen at the bottom of the plaque…
Looking up at a conifer in the West Wood…
The acid soil is good for Japanese maples…
The acid soil also makes the Hydrangeas blue – they look good with Crocosmias…
Youngsters were being taught woodcraft when we visited…
A stream runs through the bottom of the sheltered valley at Colby…
Pond skaters or water striders (Gerris remigis) were abundant on the surface of the stream, under a wooden bridge…
Mr Chance had transferred ownership of the land to the National Trust in 1979 but Anthony and Cynthia Scourfield-Lewis took over Colby Lodge and the walled garden in the 1980s. They developed the derelict walled garden before giving it back to the National Trust in 2010 to rejoin the rest of the estate, which covers around eight acres and is well worth a visit.
A lion water-spout in the walled garden at Colby…
The Squirrelbasket 
What a lovely garden – and still plenty of flowers about – my crocosmia finished ages ago – I would dearly love a lion water spout there is nothing like the sound of running water in a garden is there
It has been a strange year in my own garden – our Crocosmias didn’t do much at all this year (we have big red Lucifer ones, usually).
As for running water, it’s usually lovely but I don’t think I would like to hear it at night when I am in bed.
Water itself in the garden is great, though. We have a couple of bird baths, one a big proper one and one a little bowl. The other morning I was surprised to see a small fox drinking from it, like a cat or dog. It wasn’t our usual fox, only about two-thirds the size.
Happy autumn 🙂
Looks lovely. Another one to tick off on my next visit to Tenby (along with Caldey Island).
I think I have another one to come, too! My last Tenby post will be about Picton Castle…
Best wishes 🙂
Excellent photo’s Pat. That garden is certainly beautiful. I love water spouts. We have quite a lot around the sites in Crete but more on the classical style. I have just had a new camera for my birthday. Need a pilots licence to operate the thing though. I’m looking forward to taking better photo’s now with wide the angle lenses. Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures.
I am currently remembering Crete as the BBC has a new series on Saturdays called Atlantis, very loosely based on Theseus and the Minotaur and many other Greek myths. Some of the pillars in the palace remind me of the reconstruction at Knossos that I visited decades ago. And the most recent episode was about bull leaping, which was apparently very popular down your way!
Good luck with that camera. Don’t lose the manual! I love my Olympus compact camera, but it took me 10 years to discover how to turn off the annoying beep it made every time I snapped!
Best wishes 🙂
Beautiful photos, as always! I feel as though I’ve had an outing. I was especially struck by the medlars, as we don’t seem to have them in gardens here. I’ve read about them growing in Vancouver, so they should do well here. Hmm.
I think medlars would make a good subject for your art, if you could find some!
They always look to me like broken apples and their only use, as far as I can tell, is in a sort of jelly.
There’s more here on the RHS website and it seems a relative has recently been discovered in North America…
Best wishes and thanks for your kind comment 🙂
A relative in North America: how exciting! I must read up on that. Thanks for the links.
Oh, dear. There are only 25 plants and they are a critically endangered species? But, I’ve only just met them. 😦
Sorry about the disappointment 😦
Thank you for another interesting trip out … without leaving my seat Pat 🙂
And thank you for commenting.
By the way, I am always SO impressed by your output on Jera’s Jamboree. You are so prolific with your posts!
I can only just manage one a week.
All the best 🙂
I keep saying to myself that I will slow down … December is quite empty in my blog diary at the moment so you never know! I just might hibernate and read more 😀
I think you’ve read QUITE enough!
All the best 🙂
Looks a nice place to visit. I don’t think I seen pond skaters referred to as water striders before. By the way were there any doves for the dovecot.
Neither had I, but I thought it was one of the lovelier names of those it listed on Wikipedia. The list was: water striders, water bugs, magic bugs, pond skaters, skaters, skimmers, water scooters, water skaters, water skeeters, water skimmers, water skippers, water spiders, or Jesus bugs… not sure about that last one, unless it’s because they are cross shaped?
And no, no doves in the dovecote!
Best wishes 🙂
Unusual memorial. I think you must be on the road all the time, given the range of your posts.
Yes, quite a severe memorial, but it looked like it would last…
Only on the road in summer and at Christmas. Otherwise slaving away at my desk!
Best wishes 🙂