Barnsdale Events
Special seasonal events
Here at Barnsdale we are passionate about passing on our love of plants and gardening, as well hosting other exciting events in the setting of our beautiful gardens. Here is a list of our Events in 2013, most of which are Free with Garden entry.
Moth Breakfast, 9am-11am. Join moth expert Vic Arnold for a cuppa and a breakfast butty while you examine Barnsdale’s live moth trap to find what’s been caught during the night. Vic has logged over 400 different species of butterflies and moths at Barnsdale Gardens, including last year’s rare find - a Cnephasia pumicana that has never before been seen away from the South or East coast! The moths will be on show all day, before being released unharmed.
FEBRUARY
Spring Flower Fortnight 11-24 February, 10am-4pm
Come and enjoy Barnsdale at this wonderful time of year as the garden bursts into life. Along with lots of fresh new foliage, you'll be able to see drifts of daisy-like Anemone blanda in a variety of bright colours, pretty blue Chionodoxa, dwarf Iris and Daffodils, the weirdly beautiful Hellebores, bright Snowflakes and wonderfully fragrant, spring-flowering Daphne.
The Tea Room will be serving warming drinks, light meals and afternoon treats from Wednesday to Sunday and the Nursery is open every day for sales of plants. We're offering a 10% discount on Hellebores during this special fortnight too, so why not stop by and pick up a perfect present for the green-fingered Valentine in your life!
The Tea Room will be serving warming drinks, light meals and afternoon treats from Wednesday to Sunday and the Nursery is open every day for sales of plants. We're offering a 10% discount on Hellebores during this special fortnight too, so why not stop by and pick up a perfect present for the green-fingered Valentine in your life!
Mother’s Day at Barnsdale Gardens 10 March, gardens open 9am-5pm
Treat Mum to a wonderful day out at Barnsdale’s famous and beautiful Gardens. With hundreds of bright spring blooms, the scent of flowering shrubs and a friendly tearoom serving luscious clotted cream teas and hand-made cakes, who could resist? PLUS, on this special day, Mums (if accompanied by children) visit FREE!
MARCH
Easter at Barnsdale Gardens 29 March–1 April, gardens open 9am-5pm
Spring has sprung and BarnsdaleGardens is simply bursting with colour- drifts of daffodils and hellebores, giant snowflakes, and blossom in the trees. This Easter, come and rediscover the magic of Barnsdale- there are 39 themed gardens, ponds and woodlands to explore and a friendly tearoom serving delicious light meals, hand-made cakes and cream teas. PLUS for children we have garden trails to follow and an egg hunt every day from Good Friday to Easter Monday. We've hidden special tokens all around the gardens- find just one and collect your FREE Easter egg!
APRIL
RHS National Gardening Week 15–21 April
A week of free gardening clinics, demonstrations and family events taking place in RHS and RHS-recommendedGardens- watch this space or visit www.rhs.org.uk for the latest news.
A week of free gardening clinics, demonstrations and family events taking place in RHS and RHS-recommendedGardens- watch this space or visit www.rhs.org.uk for the latest news.
Spring Birdwatch 28 April, 11am-3pm
Barnsdale’s 39 gardens provide a home for a huge variety of garden birds, with guest appearances by residents of nearby Rutland Water, so come and join local bird expert Philip Rudkin for a wildlife-spotting tour at this exciting time of year. Children can have fun with our popular bird-themed makes or get a close-up view of the feeders on our special woodland screen and in the Tea Room there will be scrumptious treats to suit all appetites. There’s no booking necessary, just turn up and join in for as long as you like!
All for the price of Garden admission.
MAY
Spring Vegetable Weekend 11–12 May, from 11am
Come and join our celebration of the vegetable garden in springtime; We'll be opening up all the productive areas that are normally off-limits to our visitors and Daily Telegraph gardening guru Liz Dobbs, together with Barnsdale's own experts, will be available to advise you on your own veggie production and chat about their favourite subject! Then you can visit the nursery to stock up on exclusive Barnsdale Gardens organic vegetable plants to get you started at home.
All for the price of Garden admission.
JUNE
Dad’s Day Barbecue 16 June, 12pm-3pm
It’s Father’s Day so come and treat your dad to a special day out in our beautiful gardens and we'll treat him to a bottle of chilled local beer and something delicious from the barbie- it's available for everyone to buy but FREE for fathers accompanied by children (of any age!). We've even got a special Dad's Snoozing Area kitted out with stripy seaside deckchairs for him to sleep it off!
JULY
Summer Sundays at Barnsdale Gardens Weekends in July and August
Country crafts, kids' activities, live music and more... it's all happening at Barnsdale. Every Sunday during July and August, we're offering fun events for all the family, FREE with Garden entry. Watch this space for all the latest news!
Summer Sundays: Children's Day 7 July, 11am-3.30pm
Come and play! We’ve got drop-in circus-skills workshops, face painting and a prize-winning round-the-garden quiz. Plus, there’ll be fun and games with the Heart Angels and a chance to make a crazy vegetable animal sculpture- there’s a prize for the best one! All that and on this special day, kids visit FREE.
Gardens open 9am-7pm. Event 11am-3.30pm.
Garden admission: adults £6.50, concessions £5.50, children FREE!
Call 01572 813200 or visit www.barnsdalegardens.co.uk for further details.
Call 01572 813200 or visit www.barnsdalegardens.co.uk for further details.
Summer Sundays: Bees, Bugs and Butterflies 14 July, 9am-3pm
Come and meet some of the friendly and useful creatures that live in our gardens and find out how we can make them welcome.
Come and meet some of the friendly and useful creatures that live in our gardens and find out how we can make them welcome.
Moth Breakfast, 9am-11am. Join moth expert Vic Arnold for a cuppa and a breakfast butty while you examine Barnsdale’s live moth trap to find what’s been caught during the night. Vic has logged over 400 different species of butterflies and moths at Barnsdale Gardens, including last year’s rare find - a Cnephasia pumicana that has never before been seen away from the South or East coast! The moths will be on show all day, before being released unharmed.
Meet The Bees, 11am-3pm. One of our most popular events- beekeeper George Shepherd will be appearing in the exhibition marquee to talk about this fascinating pastime and you’ll be able to get a close-up look at a frame of live honeybees, together with some of the tools of his trade. Try on a beekeeper’s outfit, taste some samples, or buy a few jars to take home for tea!
*Buzz... Wild Bee Walks, 11am-3pm. Go on a wild bee-spotting walk around Barnsdale Gardens with nature enthusiast and artist Valerie Littlewood. You’ll learn about the crucial part our wild bees play in the garden, where they live, their favourite flowers and how to encourage these wonderful garden helpers.
*Planting for Pollinators Trail, all day. Follow our special butterfly signs to find out which are the pollinators' favourite plants. There are 39 different gardens at Barnsdale, including one designed especially to attract wildlife, so there will be lots of good ideas for things to grow in your own garden, and many will be available to buy in the nursery.
All for the price of Garden admission. Turn up for the Moth Breakfast before 10am and get a FREE cup of tea/coffee and breakfast butty!
Hemerocallis Weekend 20-21 July, 9am-7pm
These amazing plants are at their very best right now so come and see them in full flower to appreciate their beauty and marvellous array of colour combinations. Meet our experts from the British Hosta and Hemerocallis Society who can answer all your Day-Lily related questions, and get a 10% discount on all Hemerocallis plants in the Barnsdale Nursery.
Summer Sundays: Vintage Croquet Tournament 21 July, 11am-3pm
Come and cheer on teams from around Rutland as they go head to head in our Barnsdale Gardens Anniversary Cup knock-out tournament. 1920s dress is positively encouraged and there’ll be a chance for you to have a go of this great English game in between matches, under the tutelage of the ladies from Peterborough Croquet Club. The Tea Room will be serving traditional English afternoon teas, icecream sundaes and chilled glasses of Pimms’ and it all promises to be awfully good fun!
All for the price of Garden admission.
All for the price of Garden admission.
Roses Day with Stuart Dixon 27 July, from 11am
A special day of informal walks and talks hosted by writer, broadcaster and rose fan Stuart Dixon. Stuart will tour the Gardens to discover at the enormous variety of roses at Barnsdale, and you are welcome to join and leave the walks at your leisure.
All for the price of Garden admission.
Summer Sundays: TBC 28 July, 11am-3pm
AUGUST
Summer Sundays at Barnsdale Gardens Weekends in July and August
Country crafts, kids' activities, live music and more... it's all happening at Barnsdale. Every Sunday during July and August, we're offering fun events for all the family, FREE with Garden entry. Watch this space for all the latest news!
Summer Sundays: TBC 4 August, 11am-3pm
Summer Sundays: Garden History Day 11 August, 11am-3pm Come and find out where those old-fashioned plants originally came from and discover some exciting and unusual varieties that are still worth a place in your garden. * Meet our historical Victorian gardener and catch up on all the ‘latest’ gardening ideas. * Go on a seed-collecting tour of the Allotments with Garden Organic's heritage seed librarian. * Get creative in the herb garden and make beautiful and sweet-smelling gifts to take home. * Listen to live Elizabethan recorder music from the Beauvale Ensemble. All for the price of Garden admission.
Summer Vegetable Weekend 17 & 18 August, from 11am
Come and meet Barnsdale's expert veg growers and have a look around the private allotment areas which are not usually open to visitors, or visit the nursery where you'll be able to buy exclusive Barnsdale Gardens organic vegetable plants to get you started on your own plot. On Sunday, join Paul Freeman and Ed Burrows of Barnsdale Lodge Hotel in the cookery marquee as they whip up some speedy seasonal vegetable dishes for you to taste.
All for the price of Garden admission.
Summer Sundays: Willow Weaving 25 August, 11am-3pm
Our local craftsmen from Rutland Willows show you how to make pheasants, foxes, garden obelisks and plant supports as well as other fun items which will all be available for you to buy. Bring the children and watch them make a very life-like fish from a bunch of sticks!
All for the price of Garden admission.
Our local craftsmen from Rutland Willows show you how to make pheasants, foxes, garden obelisks and plant supports as well as other fun items which will all be available for you to buy. Bring the children and watch them make a very life-like fish from a bunch of sticks!
All for the price of Garden admission.
OCTOBER
The Big Draw 2013 Saturdays 5, 12 and 19 October, 11am-3pm
This month-long UK-wide festival runs throughout October and is run by the Campaign For Drawing, a charity that exists to promote drawing as a social, educational and enjoyable activity. Barnsdale is joining in the fun with a series of drop-in workshops where children of all ages and their families can try out new ways of mark-making- there's no need to book, just come along and get creative!
Entry to The Big Draw only is FREE.
Entry to The Big Draw + Garden admission: Child £2.50, accompanying adults FREE.
Entry to The Big Draw + Garden admission: Child £2.50, accompanying adults FREE.
Autumn Birdwatch 6 October, 11am-3pm
Join our local expert for a bird-spotting tour of the 39 gardens at Barnsdale, which provide such a wide variety of habitats for our wildlife. Philip Rudkin is a nature sound recordist and experienced birdwatcher with a wealth of knowledge and tales to tell, so bring your binoculars- there’s no booking necessary and everyone is welcome, from the committed twitcher to the complete novice.
All for the price of Garden admission.
All for the price of Garden admission.
Most of the above activities are FREE with garden entry.