Graffham Garden Group Open to Everyone! Programme - 2017 Graffham Garden Group is open to all in the village, including East Lavington. Annual subscription is 1 which can be paid at the Spring Plant Sale in the Empire Hall on 6th May or by application to Mary Taylor (867 471) The programme of excursions shown on the following pages is a mixture of a coach and car trips. Car sharing is organised by Carole Kirke before each car trip. Everyone in the village can join us on any car trip - all Carole (867 026) needs to know is that you intend to come. (You don t need to own a car or drive to come on these trips). Places on coach trips may be limited by coach size. Please reserve your place as soon as possible for our APRIL coach trip to Pashley Manor so we can book a suitable coach! Our AUGUST coach trip to Sissinghurst is being organised by Sutton Horticultural Society and we have been allocated 20 seats, so early booking is recommended for that excursion too. To book a place on any GGG trip please contact Carole Kirke on 01798 867 026 Below: Vita Sackville West s garden at Sissinghurst (photo National Trust) i Graffham Garden Group Trips 2017
April - Pashley Manor Tulip Festival and Merriments Garden & Nursery Tiptoe through the window, by the window, that is where I'll be Come tiptoe through the tulips with me! Pashley Manor s spectacular Tulip Festival sees this garden carpeted with over 30,000 tulips, creating stunning scenes for visitors to enjoy. Over one hundred varieties of tulip are planted in colour themed garden rooms. A Bloms Bulbs marquee is at the Festival to provide advice and take orders. Pashley Manor Ticehurst, Wadhurst TN5 7HE Merriments Hawkhurst Road Hurst Green TN19 7RA The gardens at Merriments, started in 1991 on a bare clay field, are now four remarkable acres of imaginative design and striking planting, all meticulously tidy. The planting has been chosen so that each area blends seamlessly into the next and creates a satisfying and harmonious whole. Merriments is an RHS Partner Garden. It has been listed as one of 20 enchanting gardens you must visit and is one of Helen Yemm s top garden centres specialising in unusual varieties. GGG TRIP Monday 24th April includes introductory talk at Pashley Manor and guided tour of Merriments with the owner. Coach trip leaving Graffham at 8am, returning by 6pm. 36.50 Below: Tulipa Palestrina, Barcelona and Paul Scherer Pashley Manor Gardens Graffham Garden Group Trips 2017 ii
May - Dean House Gardens, Kilmeston You are invited to visit this private, seven acre garden - to wander the broad sweep of lawns, herbaceous and Dean House mixed borders, well stocked glasshouses, symmetrical Kilmeston pond garden, 60 metre tunnel walk and fully operational ALRESFORD walled kitchen garden. The gardens are set against the SO24 0NL backdrop of a historic family home - 'a well-kept secret hidden behind the elegant facade of its Georgian centrepiece'. Look out for the circle of 10 hawthorns, each of a different specie or cultivar. Gives not the hawthorn-bush a sweeter shade To shepherds looking on their silly sheep Than doth a rich embroider d canopy To kings that fear their subjects treachery Shakespeare, Henry VI. PtIII GGG TRIP Wednesday 31st May includes a talk about the garden and a chance to look around followed by afternoon tea. Car trip leaving Graffham at 1pm, returning by 5.30pm. 13 Photos this page deanhousegardens.co.uk iii Graffham Garden Group Trips 2017
June - The Coach House, Childdingfold Mixed border with roses at The Coach House ngs.org.uk THE red rose whispers of passion, And the white rose breathes of love; O, the red rose is a falcon, And the white rose is a dove. But I send you a cream-white rosebud With a flush on its petal tips; For the love that is purest and sweetest Has a kiss of desire on the lips. John Boyle O Reilly The Coach House The Green, Chiddingfold GU8 4TU A garden designer's garden comprising one acre walled garden and additional courtyards, designed by the owners and created since 2013. Lawns divided into areas by trees and borders filled with perennials, shrubs and roses. A courtyard rose garden, wildflower meadow, white garden and kitchen garden provide varied interest. A secluded courtyard is filled with garden pots of exotic ferns and hostas. GGG TRIP Saturday 24th June (NGS Open Day) Car trip leaving Graffham 1.30. 4. Home made teas available Graffham Garden Group Trips 2017 iv
July - RHS Garden, Wisley What comes to mind when you picture a British garden? I d argue that it s not the Tudoresque formality of a knot garden or parterre, nor is it Capability Brown s naturalistic landscaping, nor even the flowery, bowery abundance of a rose garden. One key element tops them all: the border, and more specifically the herbaceous border. Rachel de Thame, Sunday Times Undoubtedly one of the great gardens of the world, RHS Garden Wisley is home to some of the largest plant collections anywhere in the globe. Planting varies enormously, from the mingling of herbaceous perennials and shrubs in the famous Mixed Borders to the lower-maintenance, prairie-style planting in the Glasshouse Borders. In summer, these borders are one of the jewels in Wisley s crown. In their full glory from July, the plants mingle effortlessly to produce an intriguing display of colour and form, height and structure. GGG TRIP Thursday 20th July includes a guided tour Car trip: leaving Graffham 9.00 am, returning after lunch. 3.00 (The GGG is an RHS affiliated society and is entitled to one FREE visit per year; 3 is the cost of the guided tour) RHS Wisley Garden Wisley WOKING GU23 6QB Wisley Herbaceous Border Andrew Johnson / Flickr v Graffham Garden Group Trips 2017
August - Great Dixter & Sissinghurst We planted yellow hollyhocks, And humble sweetly-smelling stocks, And columbine for carnival, And dreamt of Summer's festival Vita Sackville-West 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. Great Dixter was the family home of gardener and gardening writer Christopher Lloyd it was the focus of his energy and enthusiasm and fuelled 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. Above: The White Garden at Sissinghurst greenjottings.blogspot.co.uk Below: Great Dixter www.greatdixter.co.uk Sissinghurst Castle Garden Nr Cranbrook TN17 2AB Great Dixter Northiam Rye TN31 6PH GGG TRIP Thursday 24th August. Coach Trip organised by Sutton Horticultural Society; we have been allocated 20 spaces so sign up early! Coach leaving SUTTON at 8.30 am, returning by 6.30pm. NT Members 23.50; non members 34.50 Graffham Garden Group Trips 2017 vi
September - Shalford House Highly regarded ten acre garden designed and created from scratch over the last 24 years. A beautiful hilly setting with streams, ponds, waterfall, sunken garden, good late borders with wonderful salvias and walled kitchen garden. The wild flower meadow, prairie style plantation and stumpery merge into a further seven acres of woodland. The prairie at Shalford House was inspired by Dutch designer, Piet Oudolf, a leading figure of the New Perennial movement and designed by nurserywoman Marina Christopher. For inspirational prairie planting and vibrant late season colour, take a stroll around the extensive gardens at Shalford House in Kingsley Green Sussex Life GGG TRIP Sunday 3rd September (NGS Open Day) Car trip leaving Graffham at 2.30 pm 5 Home made teas available at own cost. Shalford House Square Drive Kingsley Green GU27 3LW Garden at Shalford House ngs.org.uk vii Graffham Garden Group Trips 2017
October - Winkworth Arboretum Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. Albert Camus Created in the early 20th century by Dr Wilfrid Fox, this hillside arboretum has now been maintained by the National Trust for 60 years and has built up an internationally significant collection of more than 1,000 different species of shrubs and trees, many of them rare. Visit any time of year for a stroll through the personal plant collection of one man, who was passionate about plants - the collection and setting are too unique to ever disappoint, however some of the most impressive displays are in autumn, when the colour of the foliage is stunning. Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. George Eliot GGG TRIP October - Date to be confirmed Car trip; NT Members free; non-members 7.60 Winkworth Arboretum (NT) Hascombe Road Godalming GU8 4AD Below: Autumn foliage at Winkworth www.nationaltrust.org.uk Graffham Garden Group Trips 2017 viii