Day Trip from London
Even
though I’ve been short on time lately, I wanted to enjoy the autumn colors here
locally before they all fade away.
Two
weekends ago, I decided to go to RHS Garden Wisley, located in Surrey,
southwest of London. Trains depart about every 30 minutes from Clapham
Junction, so I left from there with my bike. I exited at West Byfleet station
and cycled along a wonderful (albeit very muddy) bike path that follows River
Wey for about 20 minutes before I arrived at the gardens. The weather was a
chilly 5C (about 40F), and even though I had lots of layers on, the English
weather is always damp and seems to seep into my bones no matter what!
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| My muddy bike path along the River Wey, leading to the gardens. |
Alas,
because of the cold weather and fading sunlight, I didn’t spend as much time
wandering around Wisley as I would have liked. But I managed to see some
fabulous foliage around the lake in the Seven Acres section and near the Glasshouse.
The
lake at Seven Acres provided some beautiful water reflection photos. There was
a bonfire of rusts, golds and browns.
Near
the lake, don’t miss the Chinese Pavilion, originally built in the style of a
Chinese temple for an exhibit at the 2005 Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.
There’s also an interesting, gigantic tree nearby called the Wisley King, a
type of sweet gum tree. The leaves smell kind of like eucalyptus when you crush
them in your hand.
Throughout
the garden, you’ll also find some pretty berries such as the striking red and
green holly bushes and these bizarre purple berries on the “Imperial Purple” (callicarpa
bodinieri), which I had never seen before.
Even
though I spent only an hour at Wisley, the autumn scenes and photos were definitely
worth it!
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| A cute English red robin near the Glasshouse. |
