Not your ordinary garden centre

It’s always the same isn’t it! People travel long distances to find this place; it’s on our doorstep and we haven’t been for ages. I suppose we are not that interested in plants, but we had forgotten that they have good food and the whole place is a delight to walk round anyway.

This is Larch Cottage Nurseries, at Melkinthorpe, near Penrith.
When clickychick, who also lives not far away, said they had not been for a long time and found it had expanded dramatically, I realised it was the place to go to buy some plants for our garden. So we went across today, had lunch and a short (it was raining!) wander and bought some plants.
 
It’s a magical place, unlike any other garden centre you have ever been to. In fact in 2000 it was named as one of Europe’s most interesting retail areas. A family business that opened in 1985, it is a huge area of gardens, plants, buildings, sculptures, water, shady glades and much more. Apparently there is now a tiny chapel, but we didn’t get as far as that. The restaurant is wonderful and there is an extensive gallery of arts and crafts of all kinds.

I've added a couple of extra photos, for anyone interested.