It’s great to watch a garden develop through the seasons. My recent return to the Bishop’s Palace Garden in Wells showed new areas of the garden reaching their peak. The roses were blooming. There were also many other plants in their element. I particularly enjoyed the balance between formal and wilder areas of the garden.
Rose Gallery
The Well House was smothered in roses.
Formal garden view with the Bishop’s Palace Chapel window as a backdrop
Other Floral Highlights
Pale Yellow-eyed Grass or Mexican Satin Flower, Sisyrinchium striatum 
Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea 
Candelabra Primula, Primula bulleyana
Tulip Tree flower, Liriodendron tulipifera 
Astrantia is very popular with bees
I particularly liked that the Bishop’s Palace has found space for wildlife as well as offering a floral garden spectacle. For example, the banks up to the ramparts are protected as a small shrew habit and to allow spring wildflowers to set seed. There was still room for the Palace croquet team to play on the pristine lawn with its magnificent Wells Cathedral backdrop.
Cathedral backdrop for croquet lawn 
Angelic protection for wildlife
All above photos: © Karen Andrews