The Paradise Tree at Alnwick Garden

Following the success of Alnwick Garden's, A Christmas Tale, last year the Garden's festive light show is back again with The Paradise Tree, the story of a long forgotten seed found buried within the pages of a Hunter's dusty notebook.

You may remember that last year when we were making our way round the Garden for A Christmas Tale, Simon and I got completely lost and ended up doing the whole trail backwards which ruined the story. Luckily this year things are far better organised and there's no chance of missing the guide at the start of the trail. Everything is well laid out so it's impossible to accidentally stray from the path.

The scene was set by Marianne South, plant hunter and explorer, whose discovery of some magical looking seeds has got her very excited. Determined to plant them in Alnwick Garden she's eager to share her find with the people of Alnwick. It's many many years later and Marianne's notebook containing her precious notes and the curious seeds were finally discovered at Alnwick Garden and in the Potting Nursery the gardeners at Alnwick Garden work hard to pot the seeds and seedlings.

Following the paths of the Deep Forest we discovered loads of fruits from the Paradise Tree, the most beautiful colours hiding high up in the trees and glowing with magic.

We learnt more from the Head Gardener in the Laboratory who encouraged us to ask as many questions as we liked. His head projected onto the wall above us, it was truly magical when he answered all of our questions. There was an adorable moment when a young girl in our group started quizzing him on what he had had for breakfast.

Continuing on our quest the path twisted round the beautiful Singing Trees, lit up in vibrant colours, they sing to each other - remembering songs from lands near and far.

Eventually, just before our toes had got cold, we discovered the largest Paradise Tree in the Garden. Glowing with the most beautifully coloured fruit.

 Our journey ended with a trip through the winding paths of the Orchard. Lit by glowing lights it was a little tricky to guide ourselves down with parts of the path being in darkness. If you are planning a trip make sure you take a torch for this bit!

We enjoyed our visit to the Paradise Tree, however we did both feel that it wasn't as good as last year's A Christmas Tale. The lights are beautiful and it's always fun to explore Alnwick Garden in the dark, but with far fewer character performances, parts that didn't really seem to fit into the story and a lot of walking along unlit paths to navigate, we were left a little disappointed.

The Paradise Tree runs until Friday 23 December from 4:15 pm to 8:00 pm. Tickets cost from £7.00 and you can buy them here.

We received complimentary tickets to the Paradise Tree but all opinions are our own.