Last week I took a friend to the Chelsea Physic Garden for lunch and a wander. I'm a member of the garden and I love to pop in there to sit and read, have lunch or tea & cake, or a wander. I find it a real little oasis in the middle of Chelsea and a source of inspiration.
We parked in Battersea Park and walked over the prettiest of the bridges over the Thames, the Albert Bridge. I whizz over the bridge on my moped but can't stop to admire it or the view so it was a treat to be able to walk over it and take some photos.
We sauntered along Cheyne Walk nosing through every fence and up the paths admiring the architecture and their front doors!
Cheyne Mews is off Cheyne Walk and wedged between two houses by a narrow entrance. Don't you love the sign on the wall?!
Just opposite the Chelsea Physic Garden on Royal Hospital Road are these stunning buildings with a real mix of architecture. Notice the cockerel on the top
We decided to have lunch on arrival. As a member I can reserve a table so we sat outside under the awning and enjoyed a salmon en croute, home made sausage rolls and delicious salads washed down with a glass of rose. Each table had a little vase of flowers picked from the garden.
There are plenty of paths and walkways between the flower beds with strategically placed benches
I love the ferns as they remind me of home (NZ). There are outdoor ones and then those in the Victorian glasshouse
The trees and tall shrubs in the garden are spectacular
One tree in particular is quite stunning, this weeping beech
There are a lot of nooks and crannies in the garden and little paved areas like this one which make the garden so much more interesting
There's a whole area devoted to sweet peas. Weirdly not all of them have a scent; those that do are simply divine!
My favourite coloured flowers are blue or mauve and the garden is full of these colours at this time of the year:
There are also the fabulous autumnal colours - orange and yellow which add a burst of colour
And a few closeups of some of the more spectacular flowers
If you've never been to the Chelsea Physic Garden try and visit them and stay for lunch. This time of you is particularly lovely right up until winter. However I enjoy the garden at any time of year even in winter as there's always something in flower. I am particularly fond of the New Zealand Kowhai tree when it's in flower - it stands tall and proud in the NZ and Australia section of the garden along with a lot of other natives.
If you have been fortunate enough to visit the garden, I'd love to know what you love most about it so do drop me a line.
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I am delighted to announce that in September 2019 I became a published photographer, that is, I had my first ever photographs published in a book, The Gardener’s Travel Companion to England, by well-known Australian author Janelle McCulloch which features a variety of beautiful English gardens.