Dining Out – Meynell Langley Garden Centre & Tea Rooms

Meynell Langley gardens is one of an increasingly rare genre of plant nurseries. If you’re looking for gifts or ornaments, silk flowers or garden fairies then you are going to be sorely disappointed.

Turning off the busy Ashbourne to Derby road you immediately enter the calming green countryside of south Derbyshire. Winding country lanes soon lead you to the sign directing you down a tree lined unmade lane at the bottom of which high red brick walls, a feature of this area, surround glass houses and nursery beds in what once was Meynell Hall’s kitchen gardens.

But here the nostalgia ends as the plants which fill and overflow the garden are mostly grown on site and encompass many of the new disease resistant varieties being developed. The trial gardens which are open over the summer months are resplendent with their vivid colours and blousy blooms. Adapting to our quickly changing climate is a constant challenge, so you can see the success of newly developed varieties. Key too is the advice, freely offered by staff and family members who are very much hands on and can be easily found.

On a personal note, over the years we have planted an orchard with a selection of old and new varieties of fruit trees, all purchased from here following the sound advice of Robert and his team. They are all thriving and provide food and shelter for wildlife as well as apple pies and jams for our own table.

One newer feature is the cafe, efficiently run by Karen, with its rustic charm where in the winter a wood burning stove ticks quietly away at one end. Light lunches are served, and on our recent visit we enjoyed the homemade mushroom soup. The ploughman’s lunch had pickled yellow beetroot and sweet onion pickle to accompany two generous portions of cheese and pork pie. Seasonal salads and coleslaw are served too with paninis, baked potatoes, quiche and lasagnes. Most of the dishes are homemade and contain ingredients grown on site.

The array of cakes is mouth-watering, again all homemade, a particular favourite of mine is the apple and coconut slice although it’s truly hard to choose a favourite.

A visit to Meynell Langley gardens is a real pleasure, to be surrounded by so many wonderful plants, shrubs and trees…..and lunch at the cafe after is, well “icing on the cake“ as they say!