Summer Flowers

RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2023

Nestled behind the truly majestic Hampton Court Palace lays the home and sprawling grounds of the UK’s largest flower show, the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. The 2024 RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and will be a source of much excitement for any garden lover.

This year it starts on Tuesday 2nd July and finishes on Sunday 7th July where visitors come from far and wide to be dazzled by the multitude of show gardens and to get lots of hands-on advice as well as endless shopping opportunities.

The RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival is the world’s largest annual flower show, spanning over 34 acres, and has been running since 1990.  The show is placed on either side of the Palace and consists of Show Gardens, a festival of Roses Marquee, and Floral Marquee. As well as plant pavilions which consist of expert talks, workshops and exhibits.

With a huge increase in people taking up gardening and growing in the last couple of years, there are plenty of ideas to take away from a whole host of gardens with many of the show gardens focussing on environmental issues.

Highlights include Juliet Sargeant’s The Lion King Anniversary Garden, which includes colourful drought-resistant plants.

Brimming with activities, sights and sounds, RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival is the perfect day out with family and friends. To find out more information and to book tickets, go to https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-hampton-court-palace-garden-festival

Wakehurst Place Glow Wild

Wakehurst Place, Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex, is hosting its annual Christmas event, Glow Wild, from 23rd November to 1st January 2024. This year’s event celebrates its tenth anniversary with a never-before-seen route, brand-new installations, and a variety of festive activities.

As darkness falls, the gardens are brought to life with beautifully hand-crafted winter lanterns and captivating light installations created by leading artists. Visitors can follow the trail to discover magical moments in nature, including a giant illuminated snowflake, a forest of glowing mushrooms, and a river of light.

In addition to the light trail, Glow Wild also features a variety of other festive activities, including:

  • Winter Lodge: A new addition to Glow Wild this year, the Winter Lodge is a luxurious dining experience located in the Elizabethan Mansion. Visitors can enjoy a four-course festive feast in the spectacularly decorated hall.
  • Christmas Market: The Christmas Market offers a variety of stalls selling seasonal gifts, decorations, and food and drink.
  • Santa’s Grotto: Children can visit Santa’s Grotto to meet Santa Claus and receive a gift.
  • Festive Storytelling: Enjoy festive storytelling sessions in the Mansion’s cosy library.
  • Live Music: Enjoy live music performances from local musicians throughout the evening.

Glow Wild is a perfect Christmas event for all ages, and it is sure to get you into the festive spirit.

Wakehurst Glow Wild lanterns
I visited the Glow Wild winter lantern trail last year and took part in a magical after-dark walk through Wakehurst’s beautiful botanic gardens and majestic woodlands. All of this was brought to life with glowing, handcrafted lanterns. The walk was just under 1 mile in length and it took around 1 hour to walk around.

 

 

 

Illuminated lantern deer at Wakehurst

 

 

Illuminated deer lanterns could be found in the woodland.

 

 

Lit tortoise lantern at Wakehurst Glow Wild

 

 

 

Over 1,000 lanterns adorned the trail in all shapes and sizes.

 

 

Wakehurst Glow Wild Badgers

 

Lanterns taking the form of foxes, badgers and various other animals were also lit up and placed strategically along the trail.

 

 

As I neared the end of the trail, shadowy silhouettes adorned the Elizabethan mansion making it look magical.

 

If you’d built up an appetite by the end of the walk, some marshmallows could be warmed by fires in the courtyard along with stalls selling items such as hot chocolate and roasted chestnuts – yummy! All of this could be enjoyed whilst admiring the UK’s largest living Christmas tree, which was adorned with Christmas lights.

A truly magical experience – I’ll definitely be purchasing tickets for the 2023 trail.

Wakehurst Place is well worth a visit and I suggest that, if you are close by, pop in – it won’t be a disappointment.

 

apple blossom

Apple Blossom Day

Apple Blossom Day is a day to celebrate the beauty and bounty of apple blossoms. It is a time to enjoy the fresh spring air, the sweet scent of apple blossoms, and the delicious fruits that will soon follow.

There are many ways to celebrate Apple Blossom Day. You can go for a walk in an apple orchard, have a picnic under the trees, or simply enjoy the beauty of the blossoms from your window.

One option this weekend, from 1 pm till 5 pm this Sunday 30 April 2023, Home Farm Orchard in Stanmer Park will celebrate Apple Blossom Day.

On the hour, there will be blossom tours as well as music, talks and activities throughout the afternoon to keep the kids entertained.

If you’d like more information about this free event, go to https://brightonpermaculture.org.uk/apple-blossom-day/

No matter how you choose to celebrate, Apple Blossom Day is a time to enjoy the beauty of spring and the bounty of apple trees.

Here are some additional facts about apple blossoms:

  • Apple blossoms are white or pink in colour.
  • Apple blossoms bloom in the spring, usually in April or May.
  • Apple blossoms are a source of food for bees and other pollinators.
  • Apple blossoms are a symbol of springtime and new beginnings.
  • Apple blossoms are used to make apple cider, applesauce, and apple pie.

 

 

Nymans garden

Nymans Gardens

I visited Nymans recently, one of my local National Trust gardens in West Sussex.

Camellia sasanqua 'Paradise pearl'

The Camellia’s are flowering well. This particular one caught my eye – Camellia sasanqua ‘Paradise Pearl’. It’s a stunning camellia with masses of beautiful pink buds opening to semi double pure white flowers. It will also flower in absolute profusion over a long period in the cooler months of winter.

 

Daphne bholua flower

Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’ is the perfect winter shrub and I can see why it has been awarded an AGM by the RHS. The scent from the clusters of the small, sweetly scented, deep pink buds of Daphne Bholua  made the walk a pleasure to the senses and I couldn’t help but linger by them for a while.

 

Cyclamen Flowers

Many of the hardy Cyclamen were in also flower, naturalising perfectly under trees.

I’d encourage anyone on a dry, bright winters day to pop along to Nymans and enjoy the scent and colour of the many winter flowering shrubs and perennials. The garden is definitely worth a visit if you live close by.

Nymans Gardens, West Sussex

Wakehurst Place

I am fortunate that I have many National Trust gardens to visit that are close to me, one of which I visited recently was Wakehurst Place.

There are some big changes happening beyond the Mansion Lawn!

Wakehurst Place Prairie landscape Moodboard images

North American Prairie landscape Mood board

Inspired by the sweeping prairies of the North American landscapes, the horticulturists and volunteers are in the process of creating a six acre prairie landscape. In order to achieve this, trees, shrubs and the specimen borders have been cleared.

Wakehurst Place Prairie pathways

An idea of how the pathways may look

Currently, the design is beginning to take shape – hard landscaping has started, with pathways being created in the area.

Wakehurst Winter Garden

Winter Garden, Wakehurst Place – photo taken shortly after initial planting

The Winter Garden has been revamped and is really starting to look impressive. The planting includes:

  • 16,000 snowdrops (Galanthus)
  • 6,000 sedges (Carex)
  • 5,000 crocuses (Crocus)
  • 2,000 cyclamen (Cyclamen)
  • 600 fountain grasses (Pennisetum)
  • 500 dogwoods (Cornus)
Wakehurst - Winter Border

Winter Garden, Wakehurst Place

Wakehurst Place is well worth a visit and I suggest that, if you are close by, to pop in – it won’t be a disappointment.

Gravetye Manor

Piet Oudolf at Gravetye Manor

I had the pleasure of visiting the William Robinson Festival at Gravetye Manor this weekend and was fortunate to listen to a talk by Piet Oudolf.

Piet Oudolf is an influential Dutch garden designer of which he is seen as the figurehead of the New Perennial Movement. His designs and plant compositions use bold drifts of robust herbaceous perennials and grasses which are chosen at least as much for their structure as for their flower colour. They have to look as good in decay as they do in the first unfurling of spring.

Hummelo garden in Autumn

Hummelo garden in Autumn

Oudolf talked about his own garden at Hummelo, which when he first moved into, was a dilapidated country farmhouse with a few acres of land. Piet and his wife, Anja, renovated the house, raised a family, created the gardens and established a 6,000 square metre plant nursery – no mean feat! They collected, propagated, trialled and refined what then became his signature palette of robust perennials and grasses necessary for his designs. Later, after closing the nursery, Oudolf transformed it into a wild meadow, combining structural perennials with a matrix of native grasses used from the nursery. The garden was then opened to the public where Anja handled an increasing flow of visitors. Sadly for us now, the garden is now closed to the public. However, if this brief overview of Piet Oudolf and his garden at Hummelo has whetted your appetite and you’d like to discover more, then take a look at the book – ‘Hummelo: A Journey Through a Plantsman’s Life’.

RHS Wisley Piet Oudolf borders

The Piet Oudolf borders at RHS Wisley

There are Oudolf meadows up and down the country, the closest to me being at RHS Wisley. Here the borders are divided into bands of planting, with each band containing three or four perennial varieties and/or grasses with no single band being repeated. The plants are chosen for their aesthetic relationships to each other as well as for their ability to provide seasonal interest.

I’ve also had the pleasure of visiting Trentham Gardens, which also showcases his complex, highly naturalistic schemes. In contrast to its formality, Oudolf has created more flowing borders either side of the Italian garden.

Rivers of Grass at Trentham Gardens

Rivers of Grass at Trentham Gardens

There are also a number of publications describing his planting style and projects that he has been involved in:

Gardens of the High Line
Planting the Natural Garden
Hummelo
Dream Plants for the Natural Garden
Planting: A New Perspective
Piet Oudolf: Landscapes In Landscapes

Christmas ice snowflakes

Wakehurst Place – Winter

I am fortunate that I have many National Trust gardens to visit that are close to me, one of which I visited recently was Wakehurst Place.

Wakehurst Glow Wild Tree
I visited the Glow Wild winter lantern festival which took place from 30 November to 17 December 2017 where I was able to take part in a magical after-dark walk through Wakehurst’s beautiful botanic gardens and majestic woodlands. All of this was brought to life with glowing, handcrafted lanterns. The walk was just under 1 mile in length and took approximately 1 hour.

 

Wakehurst Glow Wild BadgersThere were floating lanterns on the Mansion pond and stars adorning the oak trees in the Pinetum. Lanterns taking the form of fox, badgers and various other animals were also lit up and placed strategically along the trail.

The stream that led down to the Black pond was transformed into a river of fire – a continuous stream of lights cascaded downwards, filling the water with glittering light and made quite eerie by soft music being played in the background.

Wakehurst Place Mansion Lights

 

As I neared the end of the trail, shadowy silhouettes adorned the Elizabethan mansion making it look totally magical.

 

If you’d built up an appetite by the end of the walk, there were marshmallows which could be warmed by fires in the courtyard along with stalls selling items such as roasted chestnuts – yummy! All of this could be enjoyed whilst admiring the UK’s largest living Christmas tree, which was adorned with Christmas lights.

A truly magical experience – I’ll definitely be purchasing tickets for the 2018 trail.

Wakehurst Place is well worth a visit and I suggest that, if you are close by, to pop in – it won’t be a disappointment.

Dahlia flowers

Fantastic Dahlia Grower

I was fortunate enough to be introduced to an extremely knowledgeable gentleman this weekend – award-winning dahlia grower Terry Cornell. He showed me around an area of land that a local nursery had given to him in order to grow a wide range of Dahlias. He regularly supplies friends and neighbours with beautiful cut flowers for them to enjoy in their homes and generously gave me a car boot full of flowers to take home with me.

His wife, Nicky also grows a multitude of daffodils for display in the spring and I look forward to being invited back to experience this cheerful spectacle.