England
Gardens of England and the Chelsea Flower
Show, May 18-28, 2009
Join me for a fabulous 10-day tour of
spectacular private and public gardens in East Anglia, the
Cotswolds and Somerset.
To sign up, contact Brad Cilley at
Northwest Travel:
brad@nwtravel.com; 425-313-1691. Questions concerning
the gardens or tour? Contact me —
marty@martywingate.com
Two nights London
Sunday, May 17 — leave for London
May 18 — We’ll gather at Heathrow and be whisked off to our
South Kensington hotel, the Rembrandt (www.sarova.com/rembrandt),
getting an introductory tour of London on the way in. Those
of you who want to stretch your legs before meeting for
drinks and dinner can take a stroll through Kensington
gardens and see the Diana Memorial Fountain (designed by
Washington native landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson),
the Peter Pan statue near the Long Water, and the Italian
Gardens.
*Drinks and dinner included.
May 19 — The Chelsea Flower Show
— the Royal Horticultural Society’s premier event. We can
take the tube (only one stop!) or walk — it’s just about a
mile away. Stay all day, or take off in the afternoon (with
your transit pass) and tour around on your own — you might
want to visit the Tate Modern, Westminster Abbey or the
Imperial War Museum.
*Dinner on your own.
Two nights East Anglia
May 20 — The Georgian House Hotel (www.georgian-hotel.co.uk)
in Norwich will be our base as we explore the gardens. On
our way to Norwich, we’ll visit the Beth Chatto Gardens
(www.bethchatto.co.uk); Beth Chatto is well-known
for her books as well as for turning a parking lot into a
gravel garden. We’ll see it!
In the afternoon, we’ll visit Saling Hall (www.salinghall.com),
the home of Hugh Johnson, author of both garden and wine
books (The Principles of Gardening; The World
Atlas of Wine). Read his garden columns, Tradescant’s
Diary, at the garden’s Web site.
*Dinner is included.
May 21 — A day of contrasts. First,
we’ll visit Somerleyton (www.somerleyton.co.uk),
for a tour with the head gardener. Somerleyton has a huge
yew maze planted in the mid-19th century and a
glasshouse designed by Joseph Paxton, who also designed the
Victorian marvel the Crystal Palace. In the afternoon, Judy
and John Wilson, members of the hardy plant society, will
welcome us to their private garden, Chestnut Farm, in
the village of West Beckham.
*Dinner on your own.
Three nights Cotswolds
May 22 — Enjoy a drive through the
countryside. We’ll stop in Cambridge for a tour of this
historic town. Some may want to take advantage of the
Cambridge Beer Festival, which will be on. In the
afternoon, we’ll drive the rest of the way to charming Three
Ways House Hotel (www.puddingclub.com)
in the village of Mickleton.
*Dinner is included all three nights.
May 23 — The Old Rectory is the
garden of Mary Keen, a garden designer and writer for the
Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk).
It’s a lovely quiet country place, and in addition to the
interesting garden, we can visit the old Saxon church. In
the afternoon, we’ll visit the private garden of Pamela
Schwerdt and Sibylle Kreutzeberger, who were longtime
head gardeners at Sissinghurst. They’ve created an amazing
garden at their home in the village of Condicote; we’ll hear
how, and enjoy a cup of tea with them.
May 24 — Bourton House (www.bourtonhouse.com)
stands on land that has held buildings since the late 16th
century. The gardens include a raised walk from the 17th
century. In the afternoon, it’s Hidcote Manor Garden,
just a couple of miles from our hotel; we’ll take a look at
recent restorations to Lawrence Johnston’s fabulous
arts-and-crafts masterpiece, and see why it’s still one of
the most influential gardens in the world.
Three nights Wells, Somerset
Wells is the smallest city in England, and designated a
city only because it has a cathedral. We’ll stay at the
Swan Hotel (www.swanhotelwells.co.uk),
near the cathedral, and explore gardens in Wiltshire and
Somerset.
May 25 — On our journey from Mickleton
to Wells, we’ll visit Derry Watkins at Special Plants
Nursery (www.specialplants.net),
a collector’s garden designed by Derry’s architect husband.
In the afternoon, it’s Iford Manor (www.ifordmanor.co.uk).
Iford is the early 20th-century Italianate garden
of Harold Peto; we’ll have a tour by current owner Mr.
Cartwright Hignett — a real treat — and tea.
*Dinner is included.
May 26 — Chiffchaffs, a private
garden in Dorset, is the creation of the delightful Mr. and
Mrs. Ken Potts; it’s chock-full of fabulous plants set
around a lovely cottage. In the afternoon, owner and
gardener Judy Pearce will take us around Lady Farm (www.ladyfarm.com)
and explain how she turned a muddy dairy farm into the
incredible garden it is today. Tea at the summer house.
*Dinner on your own.
May 27 — Cothay Manor is a
private home and garden in Somerset, full of history and
great design. We’ll have a late-morning tour here, and then
go to Hestercombe (hestercombe.com),
where we’ll have lunch on our own and enjoy the gardens, the
result of one of the best collaborations between architect
Edwin Lutyens and landscape gardener Gertrude Jekyll. We’ll
have our farewell dinner tonight.
*Dinner is included.
May 28 — depart for Heathrow after
breakfast or continue your holiday with a 3- or 5-day
extension.
Here’s what’s included:
10 nights accommodations
10 breakfasts, seven dinners
Welcome drinks reception
Teas at four gardens
All ground transportation
2-day London transport pass
All garden admissions
Admission to Chelsea Flower Show and one RHS membership per
room
Tour of Cambridge
Baggage handling at each hotel
Price per person for double, sharing:
$3,750 (land only)
Price for single: $4,670 (land only)
*$165 double ($220 single) discount for tour payment by cash
Airfare at $1,150, round trip, nonstop
Seattle-London, can be arranged through Northwest Travel
$500 deposit will secure your space
($700 if also reserving airfare)
Questions? Contact Marty at
marty@martywingate.com
Sign up for the tour: Brad Cilley at
Northwest Travel (brad@nwtravel.com);
425-313-1691 |
The Garden Club of Charleston hosts a walking
tour of historic homes and gardens, which we'll take in, but also we have other private gardens to see on our own - found for us by a landscape architect contact. We cant pass up the opportunity to
experience our country's history, so we'll spend a plantation day at Middleton Place and Drayton Hall, and also go out to Fort
Sumter
Savannah, established in 1733, was laid out
neatly with streets, alleys and squares. Savannah, as an
editor-friend from Southern Living magazine told me, has "an
earthy, brassy, sweetness - and lots of mystery that charms
visitors."