Hampton Court Palace Flower Show & Gardens Tour 2018

Hotel is the Copthorne Tara Hotel, 4 nights including breakfast, porterage of one bag in and out each person. Standard Room.

https://www.millenniumhotels.com/en/london/copthorne-tara-hotel-london-kensington/

Kew is London’s largest UNESCO World Heritage site offering unique landscapes, vistas and iconic architecture from every stage of the Gardens’ history. Their collection of living plants is the largest and most diverse in the world, growing out in the landscape and within the glasshouses and nurseries. Their iconic glasshouses, historic buildings, formal gardens, arboretum, water features and art galleries provide a unique setting where you can explore scientifically important plant collections, botanical art exhibitions and the 250 year history of the Gardens in which they are housed.

A refuge from the city… Petersham Nurseries in Richmond is a place of calm where you can reconnect with nature, restoring a sense of balance and space…a destination that encourages you to step back and embrace a lifestyle of positive living. Annuals, Perennials, Garden accessories and more…

http://www.kew.org/

https://petershamnurseries.com/

Historic, poetic, iconic; a refuge dedicated to beauty. Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson fell in love with Sissinghurst Castle and created a world renowned garden. It started out many centuries ago as something you would not think and has become one of the most iconic gardens in England.

Great Dixter was the family home of gardener and gardening writer Christopher Lloyd – it was the focus of his energy and enthusiasm and fueled over 40 years of books and articles. Now under the stewardship of Fergus Garrett and the Great Dixter Charitable Trust, Great Dixter is an historic house, a garden, a centre of education, and a place of pilgrimage for horticulturists from across the world.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden

https://www.greatdixter.co.uk/

Gorgeous gardens, fabulous florals & fantastic shopping in an unforgettable setting. Today you will be dropped off at the show and taken back to the hotel at an appointed time. In between, there is the show and of course your show booklet filled with all you need to know.

https://floratube.wordpress.com/2017/07/19/hampton-court-palace-flower-show-2017-eps-1-2-3/ this is the 2017 show but it shows you what excitement is in store for you!

‘Beautiful’ ‘Peaceful’ ‘Splendid’ ‘Spectacular’ ‘Stunning’ are just some of the words used to describe this little bit of paradise… you will soon see why they say that for yourself… after the tour, you will also enjoy lunch here… https://www.thebressinghamgardens.com/the-gardens/

Our next visit will be an escorted tour of John’s Garden at Ashwood Nurseries. This wonderful three acre private garden, created by nursery owner John Massey VMH, includes informal borders, island beds and woodland dells. Set against the beautiful backdrop of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, it is planted with an abundance of rare plants as well as many familiar favourites. https://www.ashwoodnurseries.com/visit-us/johns-garden/

We then travel to our hotel, Best Western Tillington Hall Hotel in Stafford for two nights including breakfast, porterage of one bag in and out each person. Standard Room. Dinner in hotel this evening.  http://www.tillingtonhall.co.uk/

Biddulph Grange is one of the most exciting survivals of the great age of Victorian gardening. The international scope of the garden has been compared to the Great Exhibition of 1851 and design features from the exhibition can be found in the garden’s sculptures. Filled with exotic plants.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/biddulph-grange-garden/features/biddulph-grange-is-the-garden-of-gardens

The Dorothy Clive Garden was created in the 1940s by Colonel Harry Clive for the enjoyment and pleasure of his wife Dorothy. Originally a disused gravel quarry, the garden was transformed by Clive into a woodland garden for Dorothy who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Colonel Clive’s ambition was to create a beautiful and fascinating garden where his ailing wife Dorothy could enjoy her daily walks. Indeed he succeeded….

https://www.shropshiretourism.co.uk/garden-parks-and-nurseries/dorothy-clive-garden.html

Back to Hotel and Dinner this evening in hotel.

Lawrence Johnston created the garden at Hidcote and was passionate about plants. He went to endless trouble and expense travelling to faraway places and exchanging plants to find unusual varieties that would bring colour, scent, shape and texture to the garden. The garden is divided into a series of ‘outdoor rooms’, each with its own character just waiting for you to explore. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hidcote

Arrive at Arundel House Hotel in Cambridge for next two nights including breakfast, porterage of one bag in and out each person.  Standard Room. This hotel is just a short walk to the city center.  http://arundelhousehotels.co.uk/

The gardens were established in 1973 by Alan Gray and Graham Robeson, who have created a 32-acre design which incorporates exuberant and innovative planting alongside a more traditional formal design. On an unpromising site, close to the North Sea and surrounded by arable prairie, the gardens are protected from harsh onshore wind by a shelter belt of Monterey Pine trees which created a unique micro-climate. Exotic and unusual plants from around the world flourish alongside more hardy species. Notable are the tree ferns, succulents and palms which surround the house.  Farewell lunch to follow – and afterwards more time to explore what you missed on the tour…for it is guaranteed that you will want to see it all.

http://www.e-ruston-oldvicaragegardens.co.uk/pages/view/564/home.htm

http://www.e-ruston-oldvicaragegardens.co.uk/pages/view/588/new-brochure.htm

http://www.jackwallington.com/alan-in-wonderland-east-ruston-old-vicarage/

Then back to your hotel.

Beth Chatto OBE is an award-winning plantswoman. Her work here at the Gardens began in 1960. She took an overgrown wasteland of brambles, parched gravel and boggy ditches, transforming it using plants adapted by nature to thrive in different conditions. An inspirational, informal garden has developed. Beth continues to oversee the development of the Gardens, and works closely with her team which include Garden and Nursery Director, David Ward, and Head Gardener Åsa Gregers-Warg. The Gardens remain a family-run business, managed by Beth’s granddaughter, Julia Boulton.

http://www.bethchatto.co.uk/

http://www.bethchatto.co.uk/gardens/about.htm

http://www.bethchatto.co.uk/gardens/andrew-chatto-s-archive.htm

You then make your way to the Sheraton Heathrow Hotel for your last night on tour… http://www.sheratonheathrowhotel.com/