My timing was a little off this year to catch the azaleas and rhododendrons at their best in the Clingendael Estate, mostly, well, in part to spending more time indoors communing with cardboard, rather than outside doing the same with nature.
At their flowering peak, azaleas and rhoddies wallpaper the alleys and pathways of the park with swathes of purple, pink, red, yellow, white and orange, covering acres of woodland in glorious technicolour and intoxicating scent. Actually, the scents by this time were mostly the final few honeysuckle blooming amongst the azaleas, but the combination was heavenly!
I'm going to miss this place, and I'm going to miss the great walk to get there... about fifty minutes from my flat to the front gates, plus the acres of grounds, and miles of paths both within the main estate and the surrounding wilder woodlands in which you can wander for hours, building up an impressive step count whilst being wooed by Mother Nature.
I'll be back in very late Autumn, though, and I've already promised myself a visit during my favourite time of year, when the leaves have turned, and the black tree boughs are beginning to show their forms against the sky. But until then I'm happy to revel in the flowers!
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