Walled garden is greeting me with all shades of purple.
Numerous fruit trees will bear a bountiful harvest in a month or two.
I admire various espaliers clinging to the walls.
As I cross the walled garden I discover a fragrant rose walk in the middle of it.
Winged thorns are not the only unusual feature of Rosa sericea pteracantha : its flowers have only four petals instead of usual five.
Leaving the walled garden.
Walking around the pond.
Unhurried walk with occasional stops takes me back to the glass house.
More flowers, more colors.
Magnolia Daybreak was planted in memory of Ambrose Congreve by the staff of Mount Congreve. It has beautiful and extremely fragrant pink flowers. There are many magnolias in the garden that bear names of Congreve family members.
On my way to the field where I have parked my car I came across a lawn. I changed my lens to a wider one to take a picture of the tree. From this moment the events started developing rapidly.
I took the picture and next moment a huge, long-legged hare appeared out of the shrubs at the other side of the lawn and started lazily towards me. I stopped breathing for a moment and then began to reattach my 70-200 mm lens. When the lens was finally on I lifted my eyes and almost screamed as the hare was sitting right in front of me, and he was the size of a dog.
I guess he had lost all his senses because of his old age, it is why he almost bumped into me. Startled, he looked at me with crossed eyes. I didn’t have time to focus and only got these two blurred pictures of him as he darted across the lawn.
I slowly walked to where he entered the shrubs, and there he was, recovering after the scare.
I am glad that I can share this story with you.
Have a wonderful weekend
Making memories 
I love the fruit trees, so beautiful! That hare was huge!!! Beautiful photos!
Isn’t he huge? If I didn’t make a noise with my camera he would probably bump into me and knock me over 🙂
So many lovely photos. Not to mention your “hare-raising” experience, wonderful story.
Thank you! 🙂 Poor fellow must have been scared too.
Such beautiful pictures of a lovely place.
Thank you so much Cynthia!
Enjoyed the lovely pix. I have a little rabbit that lives in my front yard somewhere – he pops out from time to time but I rarely have my camera with me when he does.
Thank you so much! Isn’t it sweet that the little critter trusts you 🙂
I totally love animals but sometimes they can be a nuisance when they hang out in the neighborhood.
Haha like our seagulls 😉
Lovely to see and to read! 🙂 I had a similar experience yesterday with a horse… and must say I got really scared!
You had walked into a horse, or was it another way round? 🙂
I came across a horse, he was grazing the grass but turned against me when I wanted to go through the place lol. But nothing happened in then end luckily 😉
A horse is much bigger than a hare. I would count it as’ near miss’ 😉
Ah, what a lovely adventure!
Thank you! 🙂
Beautiful vibrant coloured flowers! I’ve never seen this particular magnolia before, it looks so different from the ones here, very interesting. And that hare? Just wonderful! What a surprising encounter – thank you for sharing, Inese! 😄 xxxxxxxxx
Sarah, I have no doubt that it was your Harecula 🙂 He was too big for an ordinary hare 🙂
Hahaha! 😄 Thank you Inese! You made my day with that comment! Wish you a very lovely week! xxxxxxxxx 😄😘🐇
❤
What a great experience. That poor old hare. Kind of reminded of the White Rabbit – “I’m late, I’m late for a very important date.”
Haha yes, that hare looked eccentric 🙂
Looks like a wonderful day.
Thank you so much!
Wow! As for the hare, he may be a hare but that last shot is pure Peter Rabbit!
Yes, he looks cute in that picture, but when he was moving around, his long legs gave away his true identity. And his face and the crossed eyes! Poor old dear. 🙂
When I saw “run in” I was expecting an encounter with some irate jobsworth so that was a nice surprise!
Haha, I am very careful to avoid this sort of ‘run ins’ lately 😉 As to the hare, I was the one who scared the poor old thing. You should have seen the horror and confusion in his crossed eyes 🙂
I would be a bit freaking out if I see an unexpected animal likes that. Liked you said, he (she) would feel just the same. He does not seem to be that old (I am sure I am wrong as I’ve not seen an old age rabbit before to gauge one).
The garden is pretty and lots of flowers. The walled garden is really nice. I like it.
Thank you so much! It was much bigger than a rabbit, and its legs were much longer too, so I am sure it was a hare. Strange it didn’t see me standing there and changing my lens 🙂
Glad you like the garden. There is everything 🙂
May all your run ins be this unexpected xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Haha, I just wanted to add some drama to intrigue the readers 😉 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I love a walled garden, and what a fabulous encounter with the hare!
Thank you! The garden is so very well kept, and there is everything 🙂 Now they are open every day, which is good, the garden is not overcrowded.
Excellent😊
A hare for all seasons
The hare made my day.
👏🏻A March hare in August! Sure yur name isn’t Alice? 😉Such a magical place.
Thank you! I am planning to go there again, sit and wait.
Hare today gone tomorrow . . .they get worse as I age :-o)
Haha, so true 🙂
I guess he wanted an autograph from you. You did manage to get his photograph though.
He would run into me if the lens didn’t click. That sound made him stop 🙂
Just look at the muscles on that wee beast! He is a lucky hare indeed to be living in those gardens. 🙂
Yes, and very clever. There are so many places to hide. He won’t be discovered unless he starts munching on the tree bark.