England’s Finest Gardens & Chelsea Flower Show 2009
May 19th – 27th, 2009

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

After breakfast we were off for a full day excursion to Windsor with entrance to Savill Garden and lunch at a local pub. There was also time for those who wanted to visit Windsor Castle and for those who didn’t, there was plenty to do just walking around this wonderful little town.

The Savill Garden is one of Britain’s greatest ornamental gardens. Neither a botanical garden, nor a kitchen garden attached to a great house, it is a garden for the garden’s sake, enjoyed by horticulturists and enthusiasts alike. It never fails to charm visitors who come to explore its 35 acres of contemporary and classically designed gardens and exotic woodland.

Developed under the patronage of Kings and Queens, The Savill Garden was created in the 1930s by Sir Eric Savill. It began as a woodland garden, with native oak, beech and sweet chestnut trees, but has since evolved by incorporating many new plants over the years.

The Savill Garden is a place of constant discovery, and of hidden, interlocking gardens, containing distinctive planting groups including areas such as Spring Wood, The Summer Wood, The Hidden Gardens, The Summer Gardens, The Glades, Autumn Wood, The Azalea Walks and The New Zealand Garden. The Savill Garden mixes native and exotic species and has bred many important garden hybrids. Each ‘garden within a garden’ has its own attractions, and the gardens are ever-changing with every season bringing new colour and interest to delight the visitor.

Just take a look too at the beautiful new visitor center, gift shop and café…wow, the ceiling is something out of this world…shaped like a leaf fluttering in the breeze. The roof is 98 metres long, spans 24 metres at its widest point, and rises 10 metres to the top of the central dome.
http://www.theroyallandscape.co.uk/landscape/savillgarden/index.cfm