Here are some pictures I took on a visit to Mottisfont Abbey in Hampshire. 

 The gardens are famous for their large collection of old fashioned roses.

I visited in the first week of June. Although many of the border plants and some of the roses were in flower I think it was actually slightly too early to see the gardens at their very best. Probably mid-June to mid-July would be the peak time to see this garden. However there was still plenty to see.

This is the main house. In the 13th century a monastery was founded on this site. It survived until the 16th century when King Henry the Eighth ordered the closure of many orders of monks, including this one. The original cellars survive, but the rest of the house was added in the following centuries, when it was privately owned.

In the 20th century the house was taken over by the National Trust and opened to the public. I was so impressed with the marvelous striped lawn that I took two pictures. The white dot in the middle of the lawn is a little child who had crawled there from under the tree, where her parents were sitting. 

The house is surrounded by lawns and gardens. At one side of the house a natural spring flows into a stream that used to power a watermill. Beyond these gardens is an area of parkland with some magnificent mature trees.

If we follow this path through the trees we come to a wonderful old walled garden. From the outside you cannot imagine what could be inside the high walls.  But once you approach this arch you can catch a glimpse of the interior. 

Nowadays the walls enclose a beautiful garden full of herbaceous plants and roses, but originally it was the kitchen garden, growing all the fruit and vegetables for the house. 

So, here we are inside the walled garden. It is laid out in a geometric pattern with lawns and beds of flowers, divided by paths and trees. Right in the centre is this small fountain which is fascinating these children. Although the walls are very old, the garden in it's present form was only established in 1972.

Although these roses look exquisite and often have a wonderful fragrance, many of them only flower once a season, so they are less popular for smaller gardens, where people prefer roses that flower several times over the summer. 

I loved this stripey 'Gallica' rose.

Next to the rose garden there is a shop where you can purchase roses and other plants to grow in your own garden. This sign clearly explains the differences between each type of rose on sale. I wanted to buy lots, but managed to restrain myself on this occasion.

Low box hedging lines some of the paths. It frames the flower borders nicely and creates a slightly formal look in the garden.

These peonies and foxgloves were in full bloom. Peonies are beautiful flowers but they take up quite a bit of space in the garden and flower for such a brief time. Still, they are lovely to have if you have space in your  garden.

A pretty section of border. The wooden poles are not there to hold up the wall, but to act as supports for some climbing roses and clematis.

This path has been provided so that visitors can wander right into this wide border and smell the roses and lavender. In this part of the garden there are many varieties of lavender. The little hut you can see  in the distance is built into the corner of the wall. A seat is provided so that you can sit and shelter from the sun, or the rain!

Various varieties of pinks were being used to provide colour at the front of some of the borders. The scent was gorgeous. They are a traditional cottage garden flower which you often see in gardens like this. 

Running right through the centre of the rose garden is this stunning series of arches covered in these delicate pinky white roses. So sweet. Not many were in flower, so maybe some of the arches contain other varieties of roses. I could not tell.

To complement the white roses these nearby beds were planted with beautiful pale peonies. Aren't they a wonderful colour? And they look so pretty with these purple irises.

This was the prettiest rose I found in the garden. It was called 'Constance Spry' and was growing vigorously up this wall. People were taking it in turns to have their photograph taken sitting on this lovely old wooden seat. I love the colour of the rose and the way the buds cluster around the mature flowers. It also had a very attractive scent. I wanted to take it home with me.

Close to the house this male swan was sitting peacefully enjoying the sunshine. He seemed totally unconcerned about the people walking past him. However he was keeping an eye on his family who were swimming nearby. The female was taking her three babies for a swim. We call baby swans 'cygnets'.

Some more of the roses in the garden. In the top picture the red roses were being grown with a white clematis. Roses and clematis are often grown together as they flower at a similar time and their colours complement each other.

Beside the house I noticed this formal 'knot' garden. It was composed of a mixture of box hedging and lavender. The centres of each section were empty, but I expect the gardeners were about to fill them with summer bedding plants. The path you can see leads directly to the river.

Next to the tearooms was a more formal restaurant where I could see that people were queuing to get a table for lunch. I looked at the menu and it was full of traditional recipes using local ingredients, like the local trout and also rose-petal ice cream. You can also purchase rose-petal wine in the shop.

On one side of the house this clear stream flows away into the distance.  There is a circular walk that you can follow, along one bank of the river, across a bridge and back along the other river bank. After all the spring rains this walk was a vision of green. 

Can you see the little hut, nestling on this bend in the river? It is a fisherman's hut, dating from the 19th century and it has a thatched roof. This area of the countryside is famous for it's wonderful fishing rivers.

At the end of the path the house once more comes into view. This is the end of our tour of these gardens. If you want to visit, Mottisfont Abbey is owned by the National Trust. It is located in Hampshire, in a very pretty area of countryside near the town of Romsey. 

To find out opening times you can visi the National Trust website. 

www.nationaltrust.org.uk