The best of Great Britain's glorious "G" gardens

You won't be able to see these gardens in a day because they're spread out from Britain's Cornish toe to Scotland; but all are memorable, and each one has a story to tell. The Garden House in Devon will always be one of my favourites with its magnificent planting, glorious views and sense of secrecy. This is a garden you can visit many times and still feel you're breaking new ground each time you return. There are many areas under development, and it's constant, changing seasonal highlights will enthral you - this is a garden that looks just as good in spring as it does in autumn. 

Godinton House in Kent with its wonderful vistas and gardens designed by Reginald Blomfield - an architect who loved gardens and wrote "The Formal Garden in Britain" - he also designed the gardens at Athelhampton. There's a charming Italian garden and roses to die for, plus a walled garden that houses the national collection of delphiniums - a real sight to behold when they are in full bloom. And another real plus point about this garden is that you don't get coach loads of visitors!

Godolphin in Cornwall is one to watch for the future - there's not much of a garden here at the moment, although there was a formal garden here in the 14th century. Both house and garden are being renovated and if you're really keen you can take a "Hard Hat" tour around the house - which means that you don a builder's bonnet and wander round the site with an enthusiastic guide who tells you the history of the property. It wasn't for me I'm afraid because I was more interested in seeing the gardens, which promise to rise from the fire like a phoenix one day in future. You can stop en route to Glendurgan if you're in the area and see how work is progressing.

Gravetye Manor was home to garden designer, William Robinson, but has been an exclusive hotel for many years now. Currently under new management, and with new head gardener Tom Coward, recently arrived from Great Dixter now in charge, this will be another garden to watch as he puts his stamp on it. This is a property to visit in spring time when the alliums are in flower - they make a stunning display! Worth stopping here for lunch on the way to other gardens in the vicinity. The gardens are glorious and you can visit even if you're not staying at the hotel. 

Great Comp in Kent is a living breathing garden, lovingly created by owners Roderick and Jane Cameron during the latter half of the 20th century and now preserved for the nation as a charitable trust. This is an unusual garden with many personal touches like the decorative stone walls recreated from all the ironstone rubble found by the owners as they cleared the land to make the garden what it is today. There are more than 3,000 different plants here, giving seasonal interest throughout the year. Definitely one to put on your Wish List if you haven't visited before!

Greenbank Gardens near Glasgow (above) will always remain in my mind because of the stunning autumn colours I saw when I visited a couple of years back. This is a wonderful walled garden, filled with a series of garden rooms, and great for inspiration for your own plot at home because the plant and colour combinations are very unusual. I haven't visited in the spring, which I am told is wonderful, but as ne of many fine gardens in the area, it's worth making a trip to Scotland to enjoy them all - you won't be disappointed!

Fabulous "F" gardens filled with trees

There are two great American gardens that must surely be on everyone's wish list - Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Florida (above) and Filoli in California (below) and I was lucky enough to see both of them in 2010! Both are world famous and serve very different purposes apart from giving pleasure to gardeners - Fairchild is one of the world's great botanical gardens, and Filoli is a landscape garden on a grand scale, so you can't really compare them. And in terms of timing, it wasn't ideal, since Fairchild was recovering from the ravages of a frosty winter (yes, in Florida!) and Filoli was only just coming into bloom.

When you read about US gardens, Filoli in California always crops up, so when I finally visited in February this year, it was with a sense of trepidation! Would it live up to my expectations? Would I like it? The answer to both those questions was yes and even though it was so early in the year the gardens looked somewhat bare like sheep after sheering, you could see both the structure and potential of this glorious landscape south of San Francisco. Fairchild on the other hand is like a tree museum with its fantastic collection of palms. Both are must sees if you are in the vicinity.

Back in England, my quest for new gardens led me to Feeringbury Manor for the first time this year. This is an enchanting Essex garden which opens for the NGS and hides behind wonderful sculpted gates (above) - close enough to combine with the Beth Chatto Gardens - but worth making the effort to see anyway. It is a peaceful garden filled with many rare and unusual plants and interesting sculptures. There is an arboretum and several ponds and streams that run down to the River Blackwater. I'm told that the tulips are stunning in May, so this is another one to put on my re-visit list.

Another UK garden that flies the flag for the NGS every Wednesday throughout the summer months is Fittleworth House, with its glorious borders and immaculate working walled, kitchen garden. Located in the heart of West Sussex's "cottage" country, you'll see the quintessential English garden here and have the opportunity to sample any one of the local pubs in nearby Petworth (which is filled with wonderful antique shops) or the surrounding countryside.

Heading further west, Forde Abbey (above) is one to put on your wish list. I visited in on a wintery, sunny day in March and was treated to a stunning spring bulb display, but could see that the gardens in bloom would certainly be magnificent. The Abbey is surrounded by acres of open parkland and there are great swathes of woodland and water gardens, as well as a fantastic kitchen garden, a bog garden and a rock garden, plus a magnificent fountain. It seems that I've gone long on the superlatives in this brief description, but I really was very impressed by this property, so must make the effort to return in 2011.

Another charming garden to visit in May when the rhododendrons and azaleas are in bloom is Furzey in Hampshire (above) - you'll find a riot of colour to rival Exbury, but this is a much more personal garden. There are wonderful thatched tree houses and viewing platforms dotted around Furzey which make it a great garden for children. Well worth visiting if you want a wonderful colour display in May and another  garden for me to put on my "Must Re-Visit" list for next year.

Reflections from Marie Selby Gardens in Sarasota

Although my winter home is here in Florida, I realised that I've never really reviewed the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens here! I've marvelled at their epiphytes, ogled the orchids, photographed leaves in the Tropical Display House and enjoyed the view over Sarasota Bay from there on many occasions, but never given an overview of what's on offer at this amazing garden just a few miles from where I live.

The gardens cover some 11 acres of prime bayfront property in downtown Sarasota with wonderful views over the water (above). They are the legacy of William and Marie Selby, who moved here in the early 1900s and remained for the rest of their lives. The gardens opened to the public in 1975 and have become one of the leading orchid and epiphyte centres in the United States. Marie Selby was fascinated by plants and would be pleased to know that her former home is now being used  to "further the understanding of plant life, with emphasis on epiphytes, and to provide enjoyment for all who visit the gardens."

The Tropical Display house (above) is the piece de resistance here, with it's wonderful orchid displays. There are well over 5,000 species here and every visit to the garden sees different orchids in bloom so you can be assured that no two visits will be the same. So it's not surprising you encounter feverish photographers at work here every time you visit! And although it's the orchids that have made this garden famous, they are only a tiny part of what's on offer. 

Outside there is a magical world of epiphytes and a showcase of tropical plants and trees collected from all over the world - all immaculately labelled. You will see exotic names like Borneo, India and Indonesia cropping up all over the gardens and if you take the time to look, you will realise there's an extraordinarily large collection of plants - some 20,000 - sheltering here in this small Sarasota paradise. There's a banyan grove, a fine collection of palms and figs, a magnificent bamboo pavilion, bromeliads and butterflies, and a cycad collection reminding you these strange plants have been here for millions of years!

The gardens are extraordinarily peaceful and you can spend several hours wandering through the shady lawn areas, the Hibiscus Garden, the Baywalk Sanctuary where the boardwalk paths wander through the mangrove swamp, or just enjoy the plants and flowers in bloom throughout the seasons. This is truly a garden of textures and shapes and a place to enjoy! 

Wordless Wednesday - Florida Foliage

I think these pictures tell the story! I was at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens yesterday. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Enchanting "E" gardens - from Edison to Exbury

East Lambrook Manor in Somerset is a tiny garden that draws visitors from all over the world - former home of much-loved garden writer and plantswoman Margery Fish, it's famous for its snowdrop collection and applauded as one of the greatest "cottage gardens" in the country. Hardly surprising since its owner was the author of "Cottage Garden Flowers" - a whole new approach to English country gardening in the 1960s. A wonderful garden to visit if you're looking for ideas for your own plot at home and there's also an excellent nursery where you can buy the plants that have inspired you.

A long way from Dorset and on an altogether different scale from East Lambrook, is the Edison Estate in Fort Myers, Florida. Former home of Thomas Edison of light-bulb fame, it has fine collections of palms and cycads, plus the largest banyan tree in America. Henry Ford moved here a few years after Edison and you can look around their homes as part of your visit, as well as enjoying the gardens with their fine views over the water.

Eltham Palace on the outskirts of London attracts Art Deco fans and gardeners. It's a fine example of a moated property dating back to the 12th century, but notable for its fine Art Deco furnishings acquired by Stephen and Virginia Courtauld who built a new house here in the 1930s. They were also keen horticulturists and laid out the gardens, including the Rose Garden. Now under the stewardship of English Heritage, this is another property where restoration is underway, but the gardens are worth visiting even if you're not an Art Deco aficionado. Easily accessible from Central London.

The Englefield Estate in Berkshire has a fine spring garden adjacent to the mansion. It's filled with wonderful displays of rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias and has some glorious views over the surrounding countryside. The Estate has some 3,500 acres of woodland and some fine architecture. Definitely another garden to watch, since the owners are restoring it to its former glory. 

Eat your heart out over the bluebells at Enys in Cornwall in May (above) - a stunning display in another garden that's under restoration. Considered to be the oldest garden in Cornwall, this property has been owned by the same family since the 13th century, and when John Davies Enys arrived here from New Zealand, he planted many fine trees in the garden. Expect to see Enys established on the English garden map in the next few years!

Exbury is famous the world over for its spring colour displays. It has one of the finest collections of rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias in Britain, planted by the Rothschild family - a 200-acre garden bursting with colour, and complete with its own railway. A wonderful place to walk and the kids will love the train!

Delightful "D" Gardens

We may have some of the best botanical gardens in the world in Britain, but the US is certainly growing  an impressive new breed of specialist gardens that rival ours in the UK! One of my favourites visited this year is the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont, North Carolina, which I saw on a memorable blue-sky day in February. Opened just over 10 years ago, it has one of the finest conservatories I've seen, with impressive orchid displays and stunning epiphyte arches. The pergolas are pretty impressive too!

A long way from North Carolina, but I'm glad I had the chance to visit the gardens at Deeg in Rajasthan which are a real reminder of days gone by, with an impressive display of Mughal pavilions and marble palaces. I went before the great monsoon of 2010 so water was a scarce commodity, but having just visited Rajasthan and seen the water levels in Udaipur, I can imagine how wonderful the gardens look now. This amazing palace complex was built by the Jat rulers in the 18th century and the gardens are currently being restored.

Denmans (above) home of much-loved English garden designer, John Brookes who designed the English Walled Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden, is a must for any designer looking for ideas for their own patch at home. It is a series of garden rooms with wonderful plant and colour mixes, giving year-round interest. Located outside Chichester, near Sussex, it has an excellent nursery and is also a good location to combine with other gardens on the south coast.

Docton Mill - it took me years to get here, but was well worth the wait and when I visited just recently, I was enchanted by this garden, nestling in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the Hartland Peninsular in North Devon. Quite different to other gardens in the area because of the stream running through it, there is a wide selection of shade and water loving plants here that you won't see elsewhere. There are records of the Mill here in Saxon times, but the present owners have restored this garden during the last 10 years. Well worth taking a detour for!

Dyffryn in Wales is a fine example of what lottery money can do for a garden - it's an Edwardian garden being restored to its original splendour. Work started in 1997 and the gardens opened 10 years later. When I visited last year, they were well on their way to recovery and looked stunning. It was designed by Thomas Mawson who wrote "The Art and Craft of Garden Making", which lent its name to the style adopted by Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens in their gardens. This is a project to watch, because different parts of the 55-acre garden are being restored each year and this promises to be one of the great gardens of Wales.

Florida's Flighty Friends

One thing about Florida is its bird life! Every time I come here, I'm amazed and delighted by the huge quantity of birds - and it's not just the ones you see everywhere, like the pelican eating dinner (below), but the sheer numbers of unusual birds that you don't see anywhere else in the world. Of course, there are gardens too, but I haven't started "Galloping" yet, because I'm still suffering from jet lag from India and suddenly I've travelled another five hours back through time. 

I could spend hours just watching the brown pelicans here - they are absolute comedians, especially around food. This little guy was so anxious to get dinner in the tank that he swallowed the fish in one to make sure his mates didn't get it and then struggled for half an hour to swallow it. 

Then there's the Roseate Spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja) - a shy creature (above) that's hard to get close to, but quite astounding when you do, with it's delicate pink plumage, that turns darker when the mating season begins. There's quite a few of them around here, if you know where to look and they keep strange company, as you can see from the shot below.

The Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) pictured above is a truly remarkable bird - prehistoric looking and only found here in Florida. It stands over a metre high, and like the Roseate, is a shy bird that easily takes flight if you get too close. There is several pairs near my home in Florida and I love to walk out early in the morning to see them. They're always at the same place, if you know where to look!

And the Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) found further north from where I am, but quite an impressive character. This is the male bird (above) showing his true colours and puffing himself up to attract a mate. We don't see that many here in the south of Florida, but there's a huge colony up in Cedar Key, where I took this shot on a previous visit. Soon I'll be featuring some of the herons you see here - there's quite a few!

Best "C" gardens in California, the Cotswolds and Cuba

Looking back at the year, I realise that I've covered an astounding number of miles in my quest for glorious gardens! Earlier this year when England was covered in snow, I was lucky enough to be in California looking at West Coast gardens. One in particular sticks in my mind - the garden at Carmel Mission (above), founded in 1770 by Father Juniper Serra, who's buried there. It's a delightful garden filled with flowers, fountains and statues and presided over by a basilica. I visited on a cloudless day in February, and it will certainly stick in my mind because of the striking planting and swathes of colour.

I spent the summer months at home. Gloucestershire is a far cry from California, but has some of the finest gardens in Britain, including the magnificent 3.5 acre walled garden at Cerney House (above) with its riotous borders and lovely vistas over the surrounding countryside. You can really get away from the crowds here and admire rural England in a Cotswold setting - definitely one of the best gardens I saw in the area and well worth making a detour for! Ideally placed if you're visiting beautiful "B" gardens too, with Barnsley House and Buscot Park just a stone's throw away.

Colesbourne Park (above) has also been on my wish list for several years and when I visited this year for the first time I was lucky enough to be shown the gardens by Garden Adviser, John Grimshaw, who writes his own blog. It's part of a glorious 2,500 acre estate, famous for its snowdrops - former home of celebrated Victorian plantsman, Henry John Elwes - who planted many of the magnificent trees that are there today. John is extremely knowledgeable and I'm sure that Elwes would be delighted he's restoring the garden to its former glory! I certainly have to visit when the snowdrops are in bloom as I hear it's one of the best displays in Britain with more than 200 varieties.

Charleston, former home of Vanessa Bell of Bloomsbury Set fame is virtually on my doorstep, so I was delighted to make a special visit there with fellow garden writer and blogger Alice Joyce when she visited England this spring. It's a charming, ebullient garden and for those interested in the Bloomsbury Set, the tour of the house is a must. You can easily combine this with a visit to Monk's House, where Vanessa's well-known sister, Virginia Woolf, resided - just a short distance away outside Lewes.

But for me, the highlight of my year was my visit to Cuba in September. It is one of the most magical places I've ever been. The scenery is astounding, the people are charming and there is so much to see that two weeks wasn't enough to scratch the surface! I was lucky enough to visit the Botanical Garden outside Havana, the wonderful gardens at Cienfuegos (above) and then travel on to the Vinales region. I hope all my American readers will soon be able to visit this wonderful place - it's just too good to miss and only a stone's throw from your shores! And, talking of the US, I leave for there tomorrow, so will be back writing about American gardens next week.

Wordless Wednesday - Winter colours

Taken at Sussex Prairies yesterday ...

For some awesome "A" gardens use this link
For some beautiful "B" gardens use this one!

And now for some beautiful "B" gardens!

Barnsley House, former home of famous gardener Rosemary Verey, has been on my wishlist for years, so imagine my excitement when I had the chance to go there earlier this year and do a day's photography with Clive Nichols, one of our best UK garden photographers. It was a truly memorable day and I know I learned a lot from Clive. He's a wonderful, patient teacher and I really recommend his courses to any of you that are interested in garden photography. The garden was wonderful too and although the famous laburnum walk (above) was past its prime when we were there, it was a pleasure to walk in the footsteps of Rosemary and see why she was so ahead of her time in terms of garden design.

One of the best gardens I visited this year was the other side of the pond - at Berkeley in California - where I was lucky enough to spend a week in February. I was treated to one of the best displays of rhododendrons I've seen yet and really enjoyed my time in this magical garden. But it was this guy on the roof that really caught my eye! The gardens I visited in California really caught my imagination and I'm hoping to get back there because I hardly touched the tip of the iceberg in terms of what's on offer. I still have to see all the verdant wonders near L.A. so that's my plan for spring 2011.

And it wasn't just the gardens that caught my eye in California. I've never seen such large waves as the day I drove the coastal road on Big Sur, or seen so many wonderful wild flowers along the highway! My husband was with me on the trip, which made it extra special, as he'd never been to the West Coast, and although I kept stopping to see gardens, he really enjoyed himself too. 

Back in Britain, it was Bourton House that sailed to the top of my favourites list, while visiting the gardens of Gloucestershire. This is a truly wonderful garden - not too large, but filled with unusual features like the topiary (above) and set in a stunning position on a hillside with wonderful views over the surrounding countryside. I know that many of my fellow bloggers have written about Bourton House, including Edith Hope, who gave a riveting account of her connection with the previous owners, so do visit her blog for the inside story.

And yet another first-time visit for me this year was Buscot Park in Oxfordshire. This glorious property has a water garden designed by Harold Peto (above) which draws you in like a magnet. It's a series of  stepped canals that open out into ponds and then narrow again, featuring bridges and fountains all the way from top to bottom. Edged with mature trees and immaculately clipped box hedges, you find yourself in a watery fairyland here. There's also a stunning walled kitchen garden with splendid ornamental borders. Definitely one to make a detour for!
   And these are just a few of the wonderful "B" gardens I've visited this year, so for more, you may wish to see what I chose in 2009!