Chelsea Brighton
May, 2006
 

Wednesday, the 24th was spent visiting Hidcote Manor (starts with cottage with blue door, ends with lion fountain) and Kiftsgate Gardens (starts and ends with house)
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'The twisting lanes of the Cotswold countryside lead to one of the most inventive and influential gardens of the twentieth century. Hidcote Manor Garden, with its structure of outdoor 'rooms', linked by vistas and furnished with all sorts of topiary, recalls both the English garden style and the European connections of its creator Major Lawrence Johnston. Laid out over seventy years ago an astonishing variety of effects have been created. Hedges, walls, water and paving were all combined to create a garden that has its originals in the Arts and Crafts movement. Profuse and 'jungly' planting, rich colour and texture, contrast with areas left deliberately plain to give calm and restful interludes, so increasing the impact of the garden's lavish and exciting progression.'

http://www.icangarden.com/Pix/Chelsea2005-1b.cfm

We then crossed the road to Kiftsgate Court Gardens - created by three generations of women gardeners. Started by their grandmother Heather Muir in the twenties continued by their mother Diany Binny from 1950 and now looked after by Anne Chambers and her husband plus their children lend a hand on occasion. The gardens are a plants man's delight reflecting the pleasure the family has had collecting species from all over the world. There is a wonderful history on this garden – be sure to read about it on their website. We enjoyed lunch here before visiting the gardens.

http://www.icangarden.com/Pix/Chelsea2005-1b.cfm

http://www.kiftsgate.co.uk/

We ended our evening with dinner at the Albert Inn,