6/6 Hampton Court Palace Gardens

I had been to Hampton Court a few years ago, but on that day I did not have time to see the gardens, so I was determined to spend more time on this visit.  

If you enter through the side gate of the palace grounds, you walk past several of the gardens.  For a very reasonable price, you can buy an annual pass that gives you access to the garden only, so there were quite a few local people, especially mothers with babies and small children, using the gardens for a stroll on this beautiful day. 

Originally, this was Henry VIII's jousting grounds, but it has been a kitchen garden for a couple of hundred years.

I don't know what they called this garden, but it was directly behind William III's part of the palace. 

This garden was to the side of William's palace and was called the "Privy" or private garden.  Only the king and his wife and a very few selected visitors could enter this garden.  It had a very formal style. 

 

No walking on the grass in this garden!    

This rose garden is my favorite!  The roses were in bloom and the air was heavily perfumed by them.