I want to inspire you to support nature and Surrey’s conservation groups and make a positive difference for the Small Blue Butterfly by growing Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) in your garden, or at your school, workplace, or allotment.
The Small Blue Butterfly is Britain’s smallest butterfly; it was once common in Surrey. This rarity is classified with Near Threatened status by the IUCN Red List.
I’m mindful that my recent article about Gertrude Jekyll may have inspired you to want to learn more about this inspirational gardener and horticulturist, so in this post I’m sharing information on an array of Gertrude Jekyll themed events, as well as gardens, vineyards, and interesting places you can visit during the Heritage Open Days.
Every September, the Heritage Open Days allow visitors to experience local history, culture, and architecture.
I was both excited and incredibly relieved when I heard that the National Trust had purchased Munstead Wood, the Surrey home and eleven-acre garden of the legendary horticulturist, designer, writer, artist, photographer, and craftswoman, Gertrude Jekyll.
Gertrude lived at Munstead Wood in Busbridge, Godalming, from the 1890s until her death in 1932. Having met the renowned architect Edwin Lutyens early in his career, long before he achieved fame and was knighted, Gertrude invited Edwin to design her an Arts and Crafts house to complement the garden.
Bluebell woods are such relaxing and uplifting places to visit. I hope you can enjoy time walking in amongst the bluebells this spring, so you can envelop yourself with the scent and beauty of these awe-inspiring flowers. This is truly magical time of year!
I am a huge fan of our native British bluebells, which are also known by their latin name of Hyacinthoides non-scripta.
For decades, we’ve heard hundreds of empty promises to protect and restore our peatlands, but the sad fact is that our peatlands are still in danger and these precious areas are still being damaged today. Humans have been relentlessly draining these rare habitats and ripping out the life and soul – the mosses, plants, life, and peat – from our peatlands for an unthinkable amount of time.
I adore spending time immersed in nature, studying plants and butterflies. Today I wanted to tell you about the Big Butterfly Counts I’ve taken at Bookham Common, in Surrey.
Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count runs from Friday the 17th July 2020 until Sunday 9th August 2020 – so you still have plenty of time to join in and enjoy taking your own Butterfly Count!
This year, Mothering Sunday, also known as Mother’s Day, will be held on Sunday 22nd March 2020, in the UK. If you’re looking for a special family day out, the following gardens and attractions are all offering special offers to celebrate Mother’s Day 2020. The offers differ, so I’ve listed the details of each event for Mother’s Day 2020 offer separately for every venue.
If you’re looking for a superb day out this springtime, I’ve got plenty of ideas for you! Here are some cheerful daffodil gardens where you can take an uplifting walk among the glowing daffodil flowers, in the spring sunshine! Some of these gardens, like Winkworth Arboretum, are planted with early flowering daffodils that bloom in December, January, and February.
To head straight to my 2022 Snowdrop Events Calendar, please click here.
Welcome to my 2020 Snowdrop Gardens, Talks, Events, and Open Days Calendar! Here are the dates, and all the details of the openings of the most beautiful and magnificent snowdrop gardens across the UK, Ireland, America, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands. These gardens are all opening to allow visitors the chance to experience the joy of visiting their snowdrop collections.
An annual event, held every year in September, the Heritage Open Days allow visitors to experience local history, culture, and architecture. The Heritage Open Days provide a rather wonderful opportunity to visit interesting, historic, beautiful, and important places, which are normally closed to the public. These special events also give visitors an opportunity to enjoy free entry to some rather lovely places that usually charge an admission fee.
Since I wrote this article, I have produced a more extensive Bluebell Woods and Gardens’ Calendar. please click here to see my new Bluebell Calendar.
Bluebell woods and spring gardens full of bluebells are such wonderfully uplifting places to visit. I hope you can enjoy time in amongst the bluebells this season, so you can envelop yourself with the scent and beauty of these awe-inspiring flowers.
I have some wonderful news to share with you, the Heritage Open Days have been extended for 2018! This event will now create eight, very special days during September 2018, where you can experience local history, culture, and architecture. The Heritage Open Days provide a rather wonderful opportunity to both open, and visit interesting, historic, beautiful and important places, which are normally closed to the public; as well as giving you an opportunity to enjoy free entry to some lovely places that usually charge an admission fee.
When you’ve lost someone you love, it’s natural to want to arrange a fitting memorial and to plan a meaningful tribute in their memory. Memorials of any kind are such a personal choice, but I want to help you by sharing some information and ideas of ways that you could leave a lasting legacy, one that will beautifully celebrate the life of someone close to your heart, whilst being kind to the environment.
We’re fortunate to benefit from so many beautiful, important, and historic gardens being open for us to enjoy in Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex. We can be inspired by spectacular plant collections, see rare and exotic plants, enjoy beautiful landscapes and learn more about how amazing plants are, without travelling very far at all!
For many, daffodils epitomise spring; historically they symbolised chivalry and new beginnings. Today for many of us daffodils represent hope.
The quintessential daffodil is often pictured as bright yellow in colour, with a trumpet shaped flower, but in fact the daffodil has a long history of extensive breeding and consequently today there are a huge variety of daffodil flower colours – yellow, white, orange, pink and green, and many different flower types, and sizes of daffodil available.
