Wonderful WINTER GARDENS

Wrap up warm on a sparkling frosty day and head for one of these fabulously uplifting winter gardens

- KATY HOLLAND

Bodnant Garden, near Colwyn Bay

For beautiful winter borders

Nestled beneath the white-capped peaks of Snowdonia, Bodnant lights up in winter, when the low sun shimmers on the waterfall, rhododendrons show off their earliest purple blooms and berries add flashes of scarlet to the landscape. Wander along the path through the thoughtfully designed Winter Garden, where borders burst with colour and scent. Flowering bulbs in beds mark the way – miniature daffodils peek out from as early as December, followed by cyclamen, scilla, iris and many varieties of snowdrops in the New Year. Don’t miss the famous waterfall bridge in full flow, beneath the canopy of towering evergreen trees.

Don’t miss The magnificent Champion Tree (False Holly), with its scent and white winter flowers. At an impressive 8m high, it’s the tallest of its kind in the British Isles.

Admission £8 (free to National Trust members), nationaltrust.org.uk

Anglesey Abbey Gardens, Cambridgeshire

A delight for the senses