I have for some years now been meaning to visit Scotney Castle, a National Trust property near Lamberhurst in Kent. It qualifies as one of my 'ninety' because it opens once a year for the NGS. So on my way driving down to Sussex a few weeks ago with fellow garden owner Kate, we took … Continue reading Scotney Castle (73)

Not far from The Island (previous blog), just off the A27 near Romsey is a dahlia field open for the NGS. Gilberts Nursery pride themselves in being growers of unusual plants and also specialise in Dahlias. 'This may not exactly be a garden', the yellow book describes, 'but come and be amazed by the sight of … Continue reading Gilberts Nurseries (72)

The garden gate was open at The Island on the last weekend in August. Situated on the River Test near Romsey in Hampshire, it was the second of two consecutive days of opening and the sunny weather attracted plenty of visitors. It really is an island and in order to gain access we crossed a … Continue reading The Island, standing the Test of time. (71)

'I went up to the Great House between 3 and 4, and dawdled away an hour very comfortably': these words were written by Jane Austen in 1814 and she was referring to Chawton House built by the Knight family in 1580; it was inherited by her brother Edward Austen.  So when it opened for the … Continue reading Chawton House Library (70)

Opening this coming Sunday, the 10th September is an engaging cottage garden situated in the village of Stebbing in Essex. I was fortunate to be able to visit a few weeks ago and you reach the property down a short narrow lane off the main road.  The driveway itself is very much part of the … Continue reading Snares Hill Cottage, a curious catch. (69)

You may have been watching the programme ' All Gardens Great and Small' on Channel 4More, in which Miranda Hart and her real mother Dee Hart-Dyke visit some NGS gardens up and down the country. Dee's garden in Hampshire was open last Monday so for a Bank Holiday treat I went to visit. The weather … Continue reading Hambledon House, harmony in Hampshire. (68)

Last Saturday evening on our way to London driving down the A1 M, at the very sociable time of between 5-8pm we found the gate open... at Beechleigh, in Birch Green, Hertfordshire. We walked down the long drive running alongside a field, where a footpath crosses over and the grass has recently been cut, and … Continue reading Beechleigh, traditional but contemporary. (67)