Sample Gardens Itinerary 2017 Introduction England: England may not be a big country but it certainly punches above its weight with heritage and history in spades, spectacular scenery from coastlines to cityscapes and culture galore! Sample Gardens Itinerary 1 2017 Day by Day Itinerary Day 1 Welcome to England! 12.00pm Upon arrival into London Heathrow Airport, your driver will meet you outside customs for a private transfer to your London Hotel Afternoon at leisure to relax and unpack – why not enjoy a traditional afternoon tea? O/N The Rubens by the Palace Hotel A: 39 Buckingham Palace Rd, Westminster, London SW1W 0PS T: +44 (0)20 7834 6600 Day 2 A visit to Chelsea Physic Garden 10.00am Depart from your hotel with your driver and guide to Chelsea Physic Garden 10.30am Chelsea Physic Garden London's oldest botanic garden particularly linked with medicinal plants through its foundation by the worshipful Society of Apothecaries in 1673. The four acre green oasis has one of the oldest rock gardens in Europe, a Victorian Cool Fernery, beds of medicinal plants, botanical order beds, glasshouses, rare plants and tender species, plus the largest olive tree outdoors in Britain. 12.30pm Lunch at leisure 1.30pm Depart with your driver and guide to the Garden Museum, Lambeth 2.00pm Garden Museum, Lambeth Located in a deconsecrated church right next door to Lambeth Palace (London home of the Archbishop of Canterbury) The Museum was set up in 1977 in order to rescue from demolition the abandoned ancient church of St Mary’s which is the burial place of John Tradescant (c1570 – 1638), the first great gardener and plant-hunter in British history. His magnificent and enigmatic tomb is the centrepiece of a knot garden planted with the flowers which grew in his London garden four centuries ago. The knot garden was designed by the Museum’s President, The Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury (who was then also re-making the gardens at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire). In 2008 the interior was transformed into a centre for exhibitions and events by the construction of contemporary gallery spaces. Three exhibitions each year explore the making of British gardens, and a programme of over 30 talks and interviews celebrates heroes and heroines from the forgotten plant-hunters and gardeners of the past to the designers and writers in fashion today. Visitors will also see a permanent display of paintings, tools, ephemera and historic artefacts: a glimpse into the uniquely British love affair with gardens. O/N The Rubens at the Palace Sample Gardens Itinerary 2 2017 Day by Day Itinerary Day 3 Chelsea Flower Show Depart from your hotel with your private driver for the Chelsea Flower Show Attend first member’s day of Chelsea Flower Show – full day tickets included Come and experience the world's greatest flower show at London's Royal Hospital Chelsea. Every year the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea are transformed into show gardens, inspirational small gardens and vibrant horticultural displays for the world's most famous flower show. The show has become an important venue for watching emerging gardening trends. New plants are launched and the popularity of older varieties are revived. It's the garden design equivalent of Paris Fashion Week and is staged in one of London's most charming and affluent neighbourhoods. O/N the Rubens at the Palace Sample Gardens Itinerary 3 2017 Day by Day Itinerary Day 4 Transfer to Ockenden 9.00am Morning visit to Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew Explore a World Heritage Site at Kew Gardens – the world's most famous garden. Explore over 130 hectares of landscapes and gardens, stroll a soaring treetop walkway and wander through tropical glasshouses reaching up to 27°C. Kew's great glasshouses provide hours of undercover discovery for visitors of all ages. Be amazed by giant lily pads in the Waterlily House, delve into an exotic rainforest in the Palm House, and travel through 10 climatic zones in the Princess of Wales Conservatory. Step inside Kew Palace and the Royal Kitchens to discover Kew's history and explore a beautiful Georgian royal retreat. 12.30pm Lunch at leisure 2.00pm A Visit to RHS Gardens Wisley The Royal Horticultural Society was given Wisley in 1903, although at that time only a small part of the 60-acre estate was actually cultivated as a garden, the remainder being wooded farmland. Today the garden covers over 200 acres and offers a fascinating blend of the beautiful with practical and innovative design and cultivation techniques. For many, it is the beauty and tranquility of the garden that captures the imagination, with its richly planted borders, luscious rose gardens and the exotica of the glasshouses. Wisley is also a leading experimental garden however where many cultivation techniques are tried and tested. After your visit your driver-guide will transfer you to Ockenden Manor Hotel for check in O/N Ockenden Manor Hotel A: Ockenden Ln, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath RH17 5LD T: +44 (0)1444 416111 Sample Gardens Itinerary 4 2017 Day by Day Itinerary Day 5 Full day touring with your driver-guide. 9.00am Depart with your driver-guide for a visit to Perch Hill Cutting Gardens Sarah Raven is an influential garden writer/journalist and is married to Adam Nicolson – grandson of Vita Sackville West who created Sissinghurst. The Nicolson/Ravens also still live part-time at Sissinghurst Castle. Perch Hill is Sarah’s private home and garden. Sarah's inspirational, productive 2-acre working garden with different garden rooms including large cut flower garden, vegetable and fruit garden, salads and herbs area plus two ornamental gardens. 12.00pm Enjoy lunch at leisure in a local pub 2.00pm After lunch enjoy a visit Great Dixter Gardens Great Dixter was the family home of gardener and gardening writer Christopher Lloyd – it was the focus of his energy and enthusiasm and fuelled over 40 years of books and articles. Now under the stewardship of the Great Dixter Charitable Trust and Christopher’s friend and head gardener, Fergus Garrett, Great Dixter is an historic house, a garden, a centre of education, and a place of pilgrimage for horticulturists from across the world. O/N Ockenden Manor Hotel Sample Gardens Itinerary 5 2017 Day by Day Itinerary Day 6 Sussex touring en route to Gravetye 9.00am Depart with your driver-guide to Sissinghurst Castle Gardens 10.30am Visit Sissinghurst Castle Gardens A sixteenth century tower, and other buildings, with the most famous twentieth century garden in England. Sissinghurst garden is a prime example of the Arts and Crafts style. The garden was made on the site of a medieval manor and some structures survive. Harold Nicolson, a diplomat and author, laid down the main lines of the Sissinghurst design in the 1930s. Vita Sackville-West, a poet, a garden writer and Harold's wife, took responsibility for the planting at Sissinghurst garden. She worked as an 'artist-gardener'. Her planting design was brilliant. The historical importance of Sissinghurst Castle Garden comes from its role in transmitting Gertrude Jekyll's design philosophy to a host of visitors. The most famous and influential feature of Sissinghurst is the White Garden. It exemplified and popularised Jekyll's idea of using colour themes in planting design. 1.00pm Visit Penshurst Place The Gardens at Penshurst Place are among the oldest in private ownership. With early records dating back to 1346, they are considered to be one of the most beautiful in England. A castellated medieval house, with later additions, surrounded by old gardens. The garden was one of the first to be restored, in the 1860s, to its 'Old English' style. George Devey used Kip's engraving (c1700) for guidance. A second restoration began in the 1970s. The gardens have a series of rectangular enclosures treated in different ways. There is a box parterre, an orchard, a rose garden and borders designed by Lanning Roper. 4.00pm Check in to Gravetye Manor Hotel The gardens at Gravetye Manor are a very special place and can be considered amongst the most influential in English gardening history. The manor became the home of the creative, innovative and revolutionary gardener, William Robinson in 1884. Robinson spent his remarkable life as a professional gardener and botanist, but made his fortune through writing about his experiences and ideas on horticulture. His most notable works include The English Flower Garden, which is one of the best-selling horticultural books of all time, and the hugely influential title, The Wild Garden. Summer 2010 saw the appointment of Tom Coward as Head Gardener. Having worked for 3 years alongside Fergus Garrett at Great Dixter, his experience has proved second to none in tackling this project. The focus will be not only on conserving and re-creating Robinson's work but also progressing the garden in homage to his experimental style of gardening. O/N Gravetye Manor A: Vowels Ln, West Hoathly RH19 4LJ T: +44 (0)1342 810567 Sample Gardens Itinerary 6 2017 Day by Day Itinerary Day 7 Continue with your driver-guide to the Cotswolds Visit en route Munstead Wood Gardens in Busbridge Munstead Wood is important for being Gertrude Jekyll's own garden. Here she worked out the principles she expounded in her best-known books Wood and Garden (1899) and Colour in the Flower Garden (1908). Her garden has now been split into several smaller holdings each in separate ownership, but the main parts are still attached to the house which Lutyens designed in 1896. The wood garden is fairly intact: the views up and down its main path to and from the lawn in front of the house seem just as they were a hundred years ago: birches underplanted mainly with rhododendrons and azaleas.