If, like me, you have been led to believe that Chiswick House’s glasshouse collection of heritage camellias was its chief horticultural asset, then this needs redressing. For, lovely as they are, it transpires that the camellias are actually just minor walk-on characters in this West London garden with much greater stories to tell. About half […]
‘People think I’m disciplined. It is not discipline. It is devotion.’ The words of the Luciano Pavarotti and how well they describe the approach of the Christie family to their gardens at Glyndebourne – the iconic opera house in East Sussex. Everything about these truly unique gardens is designed to support the drama of Glyndebourne’s […]
I am still wondering if my visit to Arundel Castle Gardens really happened or whether it was a surreal dream. Arriving for the first Narnia-like glimpse through one of the glorious stone archways, it felt like we were entering a fantastical film-set rather than a working garden. Like a unique blend of The Lord of […]
The Wisley September Flower Show is a distant memory, Malvern Autumn Show has been and gone, the nights are drawing in and Strictly’s on the telly. But for die-hard plantaholics like me and Louise there is one last hurrah – and what a special one it is – The Great Dixter Autumn Plant Fair. Dixter’s […]
I defy anyone not feel happier after a visit to Parham House Gardens in Pulborough, West Sussex. The sense of well-being starts as soon as you pull off the A283, drive in through the main gates and weave your way down through the historic parkland, a mosaic of downland, bracken and veteran trees opening up […]
Every once in a while you come across a place with a timeless air about it – not flashy or cutting-edge, but with a calm, gracious look of antiquity and love about it that grabs your heart. That’s King John’s Lodge in Etchingham. It’s plonk in the middle of East Sussex off the A21. The house is a […]
Highdown Gardens isn’t your usual garden visit. When Sir Frederick Stern was looking for a safe curator for the eclectic range of plants he had successfully established in a chalk pit above Worthing on the Sussex Coast he eschewed what might have been the more natural choice of the National Trust (they must be spitting […]