Charming Chartwell

Finding ourselves near Chartwell on Tuesday, we decided to pay our third visit to the beautiful home and garden that Winston Churchill loved so much, living there from 1924 until his death in 1965. The house is one of my favourite National Trust properties - I could just imagine living there - though I'd have to downsize of course - not! The dining room is everyone's favourite, so light and with breathtaking views.

The estate is huge, and the cultivated part of the garden covers a considerable area too, from water gardens to kitchen garden and rose garden, with herbaceous borders along the way. Hopefully these pics will give you an idea if you haven't visited:

Seaford in Bloom

I love my home town of Seaford, even though most people have either never heard of it or just drive though it without stopping. It has a four mile stretch of pebble beach, a bustling town centre and is only 9 miles from Brighton. It also has lots of garden lovers, as I discovered last week at the Seaford Open Gardens event. All ten gardens were beautiful in their own way. Some were crammed with summer bedding, which although not my cup of tea certainly wows with colour. Some came with interesting stories attached, like the town centre house which was built for a town official who also ran a smuggling ring and had tunnels built from the property to various venues in the town. Luckily we don't have corrupt politicians anymore....Here come the snaps:

I also took time to pop in to Crouch Gardens in the centre of Seaford, to see the new 'Quaker Garden' which was opened by Sheila Hancock. It's a small space but very peaceful and very tastefully planted.

Clinton Lodge

I've just got back from a week in Spain, lots of reading, eating, drinking, swimming and sleeping, not necessarily in that order! Before I went, I visited the garden at Clinton Lodge, at Fletching in East Sussex.
This must be about my fifth visit, but I am never disappointed. New developments this year include a revamped rose garden which included an immense water feature.

Here are some other shots of the garden:

The garden is open again on the following dates:

Mondays, 25 July, 1, 8 Aug (2-5.30).

To find out more about the garden click here.

Early One Morning

The other night I just couldn't sleep - mainly due to a hacking cough - so I found myself in the garden at 5.30am. Almost unheard of for me! The sun was just rising and there was a special atmosphere among the flowers. Here are the snaps...

Arundel Castle Gardens

I've wanted to visit the gardens at Arundel Castle for some years, but things have popped up which have prevented me from going. So today I was determined to get there, and it was well worth the wait. I'd seen the new Collector Earl's Garden, opened by HRH The Prince Of Wales in 2008, featured on several television programmes, but I wasn't sure if I'd like it. I did! Lots of ornate structures in oak form the backbone of the garden, together with water features and plantings of agapanthus.

The other parts of the garden were beautifully planted, particularly the hot borders. There were drifts of wild flowers and stunning herbaceous plantings.