Been Coleton Fishacre this week in Devon, lovely garden built into a natural valley. It has a vast mix of plants with an emphasis on tropical plants, giant gunnera, bananas, cannas, bamboo and a whole jungle of tree ferns. A great few hours
Great pics @Yviestevie - thank you. Like you we did a double visit there a couple of years ago. Liked Hidcote, but Kiftsgate was sublime 😍. Your photos confirm what I remember 😂
I agree @ Chicky Kiftgate is a beautiful garden and has the edge over Hidcote. It was a return visit for me as First and Secondborn treated me to a day out there plus afternoon tea at a very posh hotel for my birthday a few years ago.
Pre-booking requirements for so many gardens is a problem with the British weather. Not too bad for NT members as there is no cost involved, but even for them you have to get on line as soon as the new week is released. I've been looking for gardens within about an hour drive from home which don't require pre-booking and they are few and far between.
We went to Cerney House Gardens near Cirencester this morning. No prebooking required and there were only a few cars there. Honesty box system for entry payment and for the self service cafe. Lovely cake by the way. If you don't have cash on you, you can even pay via Paypal when you get home.
The garden isn't at its best at the moment, in common with many, it is really at that in between stage. Much of the early flowering planting is over and the later not yet in flower. Despite that I spent an enjoyable couple of hours there. Only a fiver go get it, and it's on the GW 2-4-1. At that price I didn't have the heart to only pay for one person.
Went to Sissinghurst on Friday and it all looked pretty rough round the edges, with many of their staff on furlough at the height of the season, it's understandable. The heat was overwhelming so we run away to the woodland and it was lovely and quiet.
The much talked about new Delos looks pretty dull currently and the pencil cypresses planted looked half dead...just not sure a dry garden is what Vita Sackville West was really about. No matter how much they both loved the look of the island...when you move it to a verdant garden in Kent it just looks a dusty odd extra and without the antiquities and sea that make the original setting magical. Adding anything to an important garden is always tricky...we will have to wait and see how it grows in the coming years.
It
is a farm near Horsham, established hundreds of years ago that has been
given over to rewilding and monitored by closely botanists etc over the
past twenty years. There has been an enormous boom in wildlife there,
including the UK's first breeding storks since the 15th century,
beavers, nightingales and turtle doves (all endangered).
I
have two shepherd's huts booked there, for four days, at the end of
August and one has come free. I would love to drive down from London and
back with someone who might like to take the booking. I have been there
often and know the land quite well and the lovely staff. I usually go
on the train but am not using public transport at the moment.
It's most delightful for those interested in botany, rewilding, macrophotography, eco-projects etc.
If
you know someone who might be interested in driving down from London or
picking me up on the way / way back, please message me. We can discuss
booking costs etc by direct message. Without a companion driver I will
have to cancel my booking.
Posts
The much talked about new Delos looks pretty dull currently and the pencil cypresses planted looked half dead...just not sure a dry garden is what Vita Sackville West was really about. No matter how much they both loved the look of the island...when you move it to a verdant garden in Kent it just looks a dusty odd extra and without the antiquities and sea that make the original setting magical. Adding anything to an important garden is always tricky...we will have to wait and see how it grows in the coming years.
Anyway, here are a few photos