Bowood 2015 #22 (Thursday 7th May 2015)

Since I chanced to blip a redwood at Bowood earlier in the year I have been taking more notice of the magnificent collection of trees in the grounds, and have just purchased A Guide To Bowood's Trees And Shrubs which catalogues all of the major items, so hope to be making a closer study of some of them during the season.

The Pleasure Grounds were envisaged by Capability Brown who was employed by William, the 1st Marquess of Lansdowne after he inherited the estate in 1761. He swept away the avenues to create a naturalistic landscapes of lakes, groves, clumps and pastureland and was responsible for the planting of many limes, sweet chestnuts, beeches and British oaks.

Unfortunately the marquess was heavily in debt when he died in 1805 and the grounds fell into decline for a couple of decades, until revived by Henry, the 3rd Marquess. The Head Gardener, John Spencer, formally began creating the Pinetum on the site of a nursery in the Pleasure Grounds in 1848, and it was at this time that the first seven Coastal Redwoods were grown from the first seeds to have been imported into the country five years earlier.

These come from the coastal forests of N California and S Oregon and were particularly well suited to Bowood soil and are now thought to be amongst the most impressive in England. Many younger redwoods are also thought to be thriving, the latest having been planted in February 2010.

I had forgotten that this visit was made on the same day that I saw Smokey sunbathing on an outbuilding roof at home, before I set off for Bowood, and I earlier blipped him, remarking that Smokey could run a seminar on choosing the warmest spots. The first comment below refers to that image, which is now included as an Extra.

L.
16.5.2015 (1213 hr)

Blip #1574 (#1824 including archived blips)
Consecutive Blip #016
Day #1870

LOTD #808 (#929 including archived blips)

Trees Of Bowood, 7 May 2015 (Flickr album)

Lens: Pentax 17-70 mm, Pentax 55-300 mm x1.4 rear converter (Blip)

Bowood 2015 series
Bowood series
Bowood 2013-2015 (Flickr collection)(Work in progress)
Trees series


Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Songhoy Blues - Soubour (2013)
On the radio

One year ago:
Bowood 2014 #13: Twinkle and Sparkles