In late winter, the garden may not seem as romantic as its summer successor, yet you can fall in love with dazzling water features, woodland walks, frost-covered borders, emerging bulbs and glasshouse wonders in February and beyond.
Here are just are a few walks which spell romance at this time of year.
1. RHS Garden Bridgewater, Salford, Greater Manchester
This beautiful garden has proved popular for marriage proposals, with its 154 acres of historic landscape. Explore the stunning Worsley Welcome Garden with its golden grasses and clipped hedges, or the eye-catching Middle Wood with its towering collection of trees. Historic vistas, soothing water features and even the Paradise Garden, a popular site for proposals, make for a romantic setting.
What could be more romantic than a walk through a haven of exquisite magnolias, some with saucer-sized flowers, other bearing daintier white blooms, although many may be at their finest closer to spring and even into early summer?
With more than 180 varieties, Borde Hill is hailed as a ‘mecca for magnolia lovers’ and celebrates the vast diversity and beauty of these much-loved trees. A self-guided magnolia trail, available from February 15 to mid-April, allows visitors to take a stroll through nature’s beauty, showcasing an array of early-spring specimens.
Winter highlights of this National Trust garden include the sweet smell of winter flowering honeysuckle along the herbaceous border, and it’s the only time of year to admire the skeletons of the acers and the bare bones of the rock garden. Yet there are many different areas which are interlinked and together chart the story of the garden, developed over nearly 800 years, including the stumpery and orchard, home to four collections of hardy ferns, plus the Dutch garden and kitchen garden. The estate also offers dramatic views of the Lakeland Fells, the Pennines and Morecambe Bay.
4. Kibble Palace, Glasgow Botanic Gardens
If you want to escape the elements and snuggle up inside a glorious iconic glasshouse, visit Glasgow Botanic Gardens’s Kibble Palace and explore its fantastic plant collection under its impressive circular dome measuring 150ft in diameter. The palace, made of curved wrought iron and glass supported by cast iron frames, opened in 1873 and was initially lit by 600 gas lamps. It contains a large collection of tree ferns, orchids and carnivorous plants.
Built in the 1820s, this Irish gentry house on a hillside offers magnificent views over the gardens and a chance to stroll through its tranquil 320-acre wooded estate and marked trails along the River Blackwater. Visitors can admire the swathes of delicate snowdrops along Lime Tree Walk.
6. Serendi, Letchworth Garden City, Herts (open Sunday, February 16 for the National Garden Scheme)
A smaller setting features a bulb bonanza of snowdrops, a silver birch grove underplanted with bulbs and perennials, as well as a ‘dribble’ of large stones set in gravel, plus sculpture. At this time of year, winter flowering shrubs will be in abundance, accented by topiary, a knot garden and gravel area.
There’s also a glasshouse with tibouchina, aeoniums and pelargoniums. This garden manages to retain its romantic feel later in the year, with an abundance of roses climbing five pillars, grasses and dahlias.
The charity’s flagship garden – which has hit the headlines recently as the Royal Horticultural Society claims to have lost £6 million in revenue due to major roadworks near the entrance – is well worth a visit, despite the traffic problems. At this time of year, you’ll fall in love with the garden’s winter walk, a 400m trail with colourful stems, scented glades and cloud-pruned conifers.
Breathe in the heady fragrance of many scented plants in the garden surrounding the estate of this romantic house and gallery, and enjoy the richly coloured dogwood, bright pink cyclamen, silvery ornamental bramble, and flowering shrubs. Look out for, hellebores and mahonia, sweet-smelling winter honeysuckle and jasmine, witch hazel, viburnum and daphne. It’s ideal for a riverside walk along the River Test, a perfect example of a chalkstream and one of only around 200 in the world. For those who want a longer stroll, you can do the 5.7-mile Mottisfont Estate walk through ancient woodlands and historic farmland, taking in some of the Test Way.
Film buffs may recognise Lacock Village from a Harry Potter film or the most popular costume dramas over the last few decades, as film and TV crews are often here. The village, with its quaint streets of timber-framed cottages which have hardly changed over 300 years, is almost entirely owned by the National Trust and you can take a romantic walk around the village and off the beaten track to admire the picturesque setting, a bridge over the ford and views of the English countryside.
10. Powis Castle and Garden, Welshpool, Powys
Italianate terraces, 300-year-old giant yew stumps and more formal woodland area spells romance on a historical walk through this garden, which lies below the 13th century castle. Walkers can take in the views across the Severn Valley, admiring the many original features including 17th century Italianate terraces. Winter highlights include the carefully clipped yew and box hedges, the seasonal colour in the low afternoon sunshine and the view across the Great Lawn to the castle.
11. Higher Cherubeer, Winkleigh, Devon (Open on February 7, 14 and 23 for the National Garden Scheme)
For a more intimate setting, find some pretty nooks and crannies in this 1 ¾ acre country garden adorned with naturalised cyclamen, snowdrops and hellebores within its herbaceous borders and woodland beds. Explore the gravelled courtyard, raised beds and alpine house among other treasures, as well as an impressive orchard.
