Last weekend we visited Standen which is owned by the National Trust which is a lovely house set in beautiful grounds in East Grinstead, West Sussex. Not only is it a nice place to simply look around but it also meant that I could try and get a few photos of the many flowers there as I don't often photograph floral subjects.

Standen was built in 1892-4 for the London solicitor, James Beale and his family and was designed by the architect Philip Webb with the name coming from one of three farms that James Beale owned. Standen Farm stood to the south of the present house which was itself built on the grounds of one of James Beale's other farms called Great Hollybush.

The gardens of Standen are extensive covering 12 acres and right in front of the house itself where these very tall, golden yellow flowers. I'm afraid I have no idea what they were called other than that they looked a little like a cross between a Dahlia and a giant Daisy but they stood nearly 6ft high. Unfortunately when we visited they were probably a week or 2 past their best and there was a gentle breeze that kept these tall flowers swaying constantly which made getting some shots of them quite tricky. What was for certain though was that they were incredibly popular with the bees and butterfly's as there were hundreds of them flying around.

To find out more about Standen visit the National Trust website