The Castle Gardens.

The day began quietly but by lunchtime the remnants of Storm Lorenzo arrived bringing steady rain. Peter took the buddleia branches down to the dump while I got on with the housework. With so many visits up to Borth and subsequent recovery time I'd got behind with my schedule and everything was looking dusty and tired. Also too many things had been left out especially on the kitchen table. After this morning all is a lot cleaner and quite a bit tidier. My afternoon was spent more peacefully going through and shredding old bank statements while keeping an ear and one eye on the tv.

Now to the best part of St. Michael's Mount - the gardens. The timing of our trip had been set by the fact that the 27th was the last day the gardens would be open this year. We had hoped to be in St. Ives for the exhibition preview at The Penwith Gallery which is on the 4th but the gardens took priority.

Having battled the wind and rain climbing up to the castle and exploring the terraces by the time we came back down the sun had reappeared. We were drying off nicely as we crossed the vast lush lawns to the gardens.

Apart from the sheer beauty of the gardens created against the south facing granite rock I was keen to note which plants are sea air tolerant. Our front garden in Borth is north facing and won't provide the heat radiated by the granite but it is frost free. If only I could transport lorry loads of granite boulders but I'm sure I can grow some of the same plants.

The 'rockery' area was accessed by many small stone paths often narrower and more uneven than the path above. I don't think the visit would have been as pleasant in the height of the summer with hoards of tourists. We came across a young family, dad had the baby in a sling and the poor mum was getting very stressed as the toddler kept escaping from her at a point where the side rail provided no protection. I took a firm hold of the toddler's hand to make sure he didn't fling himself over the edge while at the same time I reassured the mum that I was a retired infant teacher and not a batty old child kidnapper. That way we made our way safely to level ground.

The garden was filled with all the kinds of plants I love, architectural, grey/silver foliage and purple flowers. I got Peter to stand by this aloe to give some scale. 

Then we came to the older and more formal terraces. I could have stayed there all day.  

The lowest terrace  changed from the purple/grey palette to hot reds and orange and then we were back in the tumbling rocks. I was pleased to see ice plant sedums so loved by butterflies growing happily in the garden. 

Below is a bird's eye view of the gardens seen from the South Terrace. I've taken away so many ideas for the new garden though uneven stone paths would probably not be sensible for older folk with dodgy knees.