Island oasis, Ischia, Italy La Mortella is an extraordinary garden we visited on the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples. It is a wonderland of exotic plants, created in 1958 by Argentinian Susana Walton. Unbelievably sumptuous were the hanging orchids, and the experience was full of other delights …
Read More »Blooming lovely: 12 of the UK’s best gardens to visit in early spring
In the midst of winter with its low grey skies, the scents and colours of embryonic spring are a welcome morale booster. These gardens will offer spectacular views over the coming months, as banks of delicate snowdrops, and armies of budding daffs, bluebells and tulips return. Castle Howard, North Yorkshire …
Read More »Top 10 UK hotels and hideaways in landscaped gardens
Goldstone Hall Hotel, Market Drayton, Shropshire Set among the tranquil North Shropshire hills, Goldstone Hall boasts five acres of lovingly designed gardens, including a one-acre kitchen garden, one of the largest of its kind in the country. Rooms are comfortable rather than luxurious, but many have wonderful views across the …
Read More »Arts, crafts, egg hunts, gardens galore … great UK Easter day trips
Egg hunts All five RHS gardens have giant egg hunts among the April blooms, from delicate violets and alpine pear blossom at Rosemoor in Devon to hellebores and flamboyant camellias at Bridgewater in Salford (garden entry from £12.35 adult, £5.95 child). The daffs are blooming in the Derwent valley, where …
Read More »Tin mines, art and subtropical gardens: a car-free break in west Cornwall
The fields ahead are yellow with daffodils and a soft ocean breeze smells of seaweed and smoked fish. I’m on an open-topped bus above Newlyn harbour near Penzance, where I arrived by train this morning. Through window of that train, I passed a frozen wonderland of icy floods and frosty …
Read More »Green and pleasant: 10 of the best places to stay near splendid gardens in the UK
Great Dixter, Rye, Sussex Fans of the great garden writer Christopher Lloyd will know his home here as a place of pilgrimage. It was conceived in partnership with the architect, Lutyens, 100 years ago, with the latter’s stone and tile framework giving each garden “room” its own dynamic. A fanfare …
Read More »Fields of light: an arty Somerset glampsite with glowing gardens and a space pod
Thousands of tiny spheres of light are swaying in a midsummer night’s breeze. They resemble flowers: bright little bulbs on slender stems. Some change colour in waves, from soft pink to rich purple to deep blue. Others are fixed, grouped together in a fiery red sea or a shimmering emerald …
Read More »A local’s guide to Vilnius: gardens, bars and a castle on a hill
Food Traditional Lithuanian food is not particularly thrilling to look at, but it reminds me of my youth. Žemaičių Asotis in uptown Vilnius is the place I usually go to when I want to eat some cepelinas (potato dumplings stuffed with minced pork) or vedarai (potato sausage stuffed into the …
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