Marianna Hunt

The English summer gardens worth a visit

  • From Spectator Life
Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is mere weeks away – the floral spectacular that inspires us all to head out into gardens once again.

In May and June a host of British flora comes to life, with dabbles of bubblegum peonies, shocking fuchsia azaleas and the syrupy smell of lilacs in the air. So why not draw inspiration for your own backyard by visiting some of the UK’s best and most beautiful gardens.


RHS Chelsea Flower Show, London

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Image: Getty

Rather than confining yourself to visiting one garden, head to this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, which brings together more than 30 – curated by some of the world’s leading landscape architects and designers.

Running from 24 to 28 May this year, the show is the event in the horticultural calendar, with gardens as delicate and intricate as works of art. In 2022 exhibits range from a fresh take on the Blue Peter garden (complete with a subterranean soil-viewing chamber) to a 15-tonne ice cube enveloped by Siberian woodland (a stark warning about climate change) and a fusion garden where the French Riviera meets the Jurassic coast.


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