Marwood Hill Garden

 Marwood Hill Garden is tranquil, packed with plants, including national collections of Astilbes and Tulbaghia and a provisional collection of Japanese Irises. There's also a monthly edition of the head Gardner's blog. This is what the website says about the garden:

'This magical and very special 20 acre private garden with three lakes is set in a valley tucked away in North Devon only 4 miles from Barnstaple. Created by Dr Jimmy Smart VMH in the late 1950's the gardens are a wonderful haven in which to relax and enjoy the impressive collections of plants, shrubs and trees and experience the views and peaceful atmosphere. The garden has featured on many garden programmes over the years and is enjoyed by visitors of all ages looking for inspiration, relaxation or just a great day out with the family. The view across the valley from the Garden Tea Room is spectacular, the food served is delicious, and the Plant Sales area is sure to tempt you with the variety of unusual plants for sale. Dogs on leads are welcome too.

Above the view of the lake gives an idea of the scale and delight of the garden. There are some fabulous candelabra primroses in a variety of shades

I'd better include some of the Astilbes:

Below a lovely Cornus at its peak

The tower of a nearby church poking up above the trees

and features to wander around like this angel statue in a garden structure. What would you call it?

Having walked through woodland, I was quite surprised to see this delightful rockery with a lovely selection of alpines growing in it. Made me want to emulate this at home

There was one of those gorgeous single roses. Beautiful colour

There were lots of visitors at Marwood Hill, lots of people in the cafe and plant sales area. There were also lots of people interested in identifying the variety of plants, and also more people who wanted to chat about the plants they particularly like,