April Newsletter

Welcome To April At Forde Abbey….

With less than a week of undiluted sunshine and the garden has burst into life. From creamy cups to pink-tinged goblets, a full spectrum of magnolias and a canopy of blossom is in bloom. The tapestry of Spring bulbs won’t be far behind with a catwalk of tulips by mid April is the current guess. But in the meanwhile, a few dates for the diary.

Mothering Sunday

The Petit Four and fizz menu might have sold out, but there’s many different ways to say ‘thank you.’ Homemade cake with a cup of tea or coffee is a good start, and with swathes of daffodils lining the pathways and wide open lawns to roll down, there’s something for everyone in the family to enjoy. The tearooms will be open with freshly foraged ingredients from the kitchen garden, last week it was the nettle soup that was proving a firm favourite.
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Forde Abbey Gifts

Our Burgon and Ball hanging pot, on sale in the shop, make ideal gifts for Mothering Sunday, especially when filled with something from the plant nursery. A4 and A3 prints from some of our favourite captures of Spring, as featured on instagram, are also on sale on Etsy.
Our Etsy Shop

New Spring Display

The garden team have created a beautiful jam jar A-Z of what’s in bloom – you’ll find it in the glass house on the right as you enter the kitchen garden. In amongst the faces of Spring, there’s; Woodstock, a new fragrant favourite and Iris Tuberosa, or ‘black widow,’ daffodils with a brass section of variously sized trumpets, and stachyurus chinensis, with its drape of yellow tassels.
More on instagram

A Catwalk Of Tulips To Follow

The tulips are gathering pace and there’s already a tapestry of Spring bulbs in the border. Joshua Sparkes has created rivers of tulips and biennials throughout, with a variety of Spring bulbs in the mix including; scilla, chionodoxa, anemones, fritillaria persicaria and drawf Minnow daffodils. Along with hesperis and honesty and purple kale, something to look forward to after the long and dark days of Winter.
Listen to Josh on the blog

Easter Fun For All The Family

Join us in the garden this Easter for an adventure straight from the pages of Fairy Tale classics. We’ll be in the company of Cinderella, a troublesome wolf, a little pig on a mission to build, and our very own Puss in Boots. There’ll be story telling and clues to hunt for, chocolate rewards and a very special golden egg to find.
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