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Chelsea Flower Show Tour 2015
May 19th - 28th, 2015
May 27th
Our final touring day back to London will be to visit two more
outstanding gardens.
Hidcote Manor Garden – Arts and Crafts in Style
Created by the talented American horticulturist, Major Lawrence
Johnston, its colourful and intricately designed outdoor ‘rooms’
are always full of surprises. It took Lawrence Johnston nearly
40 years to create his garden at Hidcote. He started it soon
after his mother bought the estate in 1907 and it quickly grew
to be his life's work - becoming one of England's most
influential 20th-century gardens. Each of the garden rooms had
its own character and atmosphere, with surprises and discoveries
around every corner. Johnston followed the design principles of
the fashionable Arts and Crafts movement. He intentionally made
those areas close to the house formal in design and structure,
with those further away more naturalistic. The architectural
lines of the hedges and structures such as steps and pavilions
show how Johnston was inspired by his many journeys to France
and Italy. Explore the maze of narrow paved pathways and
discover secret gardens, magnificent vistas and plants that
burst with colour. Many of the plants found growing in the
garden were collected from Johnston’s many plant hunting trips
to far away places. We will be given an introductory talk before
wandering this garden on our own. Café and shop.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-13901689
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/flower_shows/chelsea_2007/chelseanews_hidcote.shtml
Mill Dene – Of Romance and a Stone Water Mill with Cream Tea
Mill Dene is a romantic story of a young couple falling in love
with each other and a beautiful Cotswold stone water mill. The
garden is in the Arts and Crafts tradition, because after all,
the village legend is that William Morris nearly bought the
house all those years ago!
Knowing nothing about gardening the Dares set about creating one
of the most interesting gardens in the Cotswolds. It is
personal, witty, surprising and of course, beautiful as well as
horticulturally excellent. Features of this 1Ha (2 1/2 acres)
garden include a misty grotto, a bog garden and stream. There
are plenty of seats from which to enjoy the mill pond and its
trout, kingfisher and ducks. It is an exercise in making the
most of a difficult and steep sided site. It is also an exercise
in creating something beautiful in which to meditate and to
nourish the senses. How to define it? An English country garden?
Yes, but with fun and surprises. A most wonderful history
surrounds this mill and Wendy Dare will share her story while we
enjoy cream tea. Welcome to ancient Blockley as according to the
Doomsday Book of 1086 there were twelve watermills.
http://www.milldenegarden.co.uk/
Afterwards we make our way to London Heathrow Airport and the
Sheraton Heathrow Hotel for our final overnight before our
flights out the next morning.
http://www.sheratonheathrowhotel.com/ This hotel has
pick up right outside the door on the hotel hop on buses…very
handy and about 10 minutes to the terminal.
May 28th Day of Departure
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