The Bee Garden

Plants in this sheltered, tranquil walled garden have been chosen to provide nectar and pollen for the honeybees, which in turn pollinate the flowers.

The main features here are:

• The central avenue of prunus and malus trees.
• The herb garden with its honeycomb beds and paving.
• The fernery and stone circle representing the Knights of the Round Table.
• The orchard of traditional Cumbrian fruit trees, some species of which are now rare.
• The Tennyson Potting Shed, with its picture of Tennyson waiting there for the rain to cease.
• The apiary and the information panels dotted around the garden explaining life in the hive and the mysteries of the bees' foraging. In front of the hives an inscription from Virgil's Fourth Georgic translates as: 'The first thing is to find a suitable site for your bees'.
• The wall with its brick face to catch the warmth of the sun, and the recesses called 'bee boles' where the ancient skeps (hives) used to be placed.

As with any garden, change is continuous: the seasons bring their own sometimes unpredictable variation, and over the years there will be new planting and new growth.