Seasons in Monmouthshire

Spring. Gwanwyn.

Monmouthshire is a great place to experience spring. It’s a season of new beginnings and vivid colours. Fresh buds bloom, animals awaken and the earth bursts with life again. Snowdrops are the first sign that brighter days are on their way - they are an absolute joy lifting our spirits and bringing calm, tranquility and hope in the depths of winter. Next look out for wild daffodils which come into flower just in time for St David’s Day on the first of March. Bluebells are the next to arrive from mid-April to mid-May when they carpet our ancient woodlands with their blue, lilac and dark cobalt flowers. Discover where to experience the best bluebell displays in Monmouthshire here. Visit at dawn when the dew is lifting to get the full impact of their sweet heady scent.

Summer. Haf.
Visit our gardens during the summer months when the herbaceous borders are at their peak. The double herbaceous borders at High Glanau Manor, originally designed by Henry Avray Tipping, and later lovingly restored by Helena Gerrish, are a must-see when the gardens open during the summer months as part of the National Garden Scheme.

Outside of our gardens, the sunshine-yellow flowers of the yellow iris brighten up the margins of our waterways, ponds, fens and marshes, between May and August. Also look out for the UK's smallest hawker, the Hairy dragonfly (mostly black in colour with a distinctively hairy thorax) which can be found in grazing marshes and flooded gravel pits, and along canals from spring. Gwent Wildlife’s Magor Marsh nature reserve is a great place to see both the yellow iris and the Hairy Drafonfly.

As well as open gardens and nature reserves, our packed programme of events means there are plenty of other exciting things to see and do here during the summer months.

Autumn. Hydref.
Autumn is the time when we celebrate the harvest of our food producing landscape at the internationally renowned Abergavenny Food Festival which takes place on the third weekend of September. It’s a place for chefs, food businesses, journalists, farmers and food producers to come together, with the aim of transforming the way people think about food; challenging and promoting new ideas, pushing the boundaries of current thinking and encouraging people to look differently at where their food comes from.

Fall is also one of the best times to experience the Wye Valley (with its growing reputation for leaf-peeping) when the leaves of the deciduous trees in this wooded valley change from green to red, gold and orange.

Winter. Gaeaf.
Visit Monmouthshire in winter to experience our magical winter wonderland of a landscape with its snow covered peaks, frost-laden misty river valleys and its warm winter light.

The annual torchlight carol service which takes place within the romantic ruins of Tintern Abbey in December is a truly magical experience and the spectacular snowdrop displays at Wye Valley Sculpture Garden from late January are the perfect anti-dote to any post-Christmas blues.

A brisk walk in our stunning countryside will do wonders for your mood as well as helping to offset some of the extra calories you’ve consumed over the holiday period. Here are some of our favourite winter walks.