Sad you're not at RHS Chelsea? Pah! Visit a local garden instead, where you will find: 🌺 real and realistic planting ideas using plants that haven't been forced or held back (as they often are at Chelsea, making planting combinations impossible to replicate at home 😤) 🌺 plants that like your local soil and climate and will thrive where you live 🌺 no dreadful queues or pushy crowds 🌺 a chance to ask questions of the gardener or owner 🌺 fundraising for local causes 🌺 delicious tea and cake in peaceful surroundings Not forgetting the RHS Chelsea price tag! Spend £10 instead and visit us at Stody Lodge Gardens where you will find magnificent rhododendrons, sparkling azaleas, peaceful woodland walks and inspiring herbaceous borders. All washed down by delicious homemade teas in aid of different local charities. You can also buy the plants you've admired at Edgefield Nurseries who have a plant stall with us all month. We are open 1pm - 5pm every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday until the end of May. We also open 1-5pm on Bank Holiday Monday 25 May. It is £10 per person, under 12s free, via Ticketsource (link in bio) or by cash / card at the entrance gate. Dogs on leads welcome and there is good disabled access to most areas of the garden. We hope to see you soon! #opengarden #norfolk #norfolkgarden #norfolkdayout #rhododendron

Quick reminder of our extra open day tomorrow, Thursday 30 April, 1pm - 5pm. We've added this day as the gardens are filled with colour and (bar our potentially noisy Family Fun Day on Sunday 3) we are not opening again until Wednesday 6 May next week. We are then open every Wednesday to Friday and each Sunday until the end of May. No cream teas tomorrow as it's a last minute opening, but all other days we have different local charities providing the homemade teas, from which they take all the proceeds. We also have Deedee's 1972 Mini ice cream van selling Dann's icecream and Edgefield Nurseries. Dogs on leads are very welcome and there is good disabled access to most areas of the garden. Ticketsource link in bio or pay by cash/card at the entrance gate. #norfolkgarden #norfolk #opengardens #springgarden #charityteas

EXTRA OPEN DAY! 🌸 We have decided to open an extra day next week because the gardens are looking SO beautiful and we can’t resist sharing them with you right now. Our additional open day will be Thursday 30 April from 1pm – 5pm. Entrance is £10 (available via Ticketsource or in cash/card at the entrance gate). As this is a last-minute opening, the tea rooms won't be serving tea and cake, but you are very welcome to bring your own picnics. Come and enjoy a peaceful meander amongst our many blooms of every hue – the azaleas are out in force, as well as our early rhododendrons, including our highly-scented celebrated hybrid King George Loderi, and our much-loved specimen Handkerchief tree. The water gardens are looking sensational – freshly opened buds of all acidic yellows, oranges and pinks along meandering gravel pathways that lead to a lake, overseen by a 150 year old Cedar of Lebanon. This footage was all taken this evening in the most stunning light 🤩. New for 2026 is our Gold Members Card. For £20, you can come as many times as you like in the month to enjoy the wave of different blooms that open throughout our flowering season – from camellias and magnolias now, through to towering rhododendrons and magical carpets of petals to wander through at the end (our final day is Sunday 31 May.) You can buy the Gold Members Card at the entrance gate (and have the cost of your ticket for that day deducted) or you can order it through the office gardens@stodyestate.co.uk. It could be a lovely present for the keen gardener in your life, or an influencer friend looking for an endless supply of colourful content! #rhododendrons #azaleas #opengardens #norfolkgardens #springgarden #rhododendronspeciesgarden #camellias # magnolias

We can't wait to welcome lots of you to the gardens for our first open day this Sunday 26 April. Thank goodness we decided to have a late April open day as the gardens are EARLY and there is masses of colour already. There is more opening daily as we enjoy this lovely sunshine - ignoring the brisk northerly wind. Does anyone know the reason why this happens in Norfolk every April?! This Sunday is a great day to visit if you want to enjoy the gardens in peace and quiet before the busy events in May (the Stody Family Fun Day on Sunday 3 May and Classic vehicles at Stody Gardens on Sunday 17 May.) From 6 May onwards we open 1pm - 5pm every Weds to Friday - these will also be quieter days for garden-lovers and our herbaceous borders will be further ahead by then too. For this weekend, there are carpets of bluebells to enjoy, Lily of the Valley opening its sweetly scented buds, Solomon seal lining the camellia and Magnolia pathways and masses of bright azaleas to lift the spirits as well as larger dramatic rhododendrons. I love the garden right now when it's all newly opened and nothing has gone over yet. Fresh and zingy and full of birdsong 🎵 #norfolkgarden #opengarden #norfolk #rhododendronspeciesgarden #rhododendrons #springgarden #bluebells #azaleas #camellias #magnolias