The last year has witnessed a national surge of interest in gardening and nature and the powerfully therapeutic effect both have on us. Two veritable beacons of joy, amongst all the angst and tribulations of the dreadful Pandemic. Capitalizing on these trends, the enterprising curator and writer Natasha Goodfellow is organising Herbival, an exciting new

If you love visiting gardens you are in for a treat on Sunday 30th June, when an astonishing tally of 30 gardens are taking part in Faversham Open Gardens Day. The attractive ancient market town in East Kent has much to offer – fine architecture, good eateries, a fascinating history -but above all it is

Do you believe in Fairies? In today’s technological world I am pleased to say that fairies are as popular as ever. The desire to escape and believe is still potent. Young, middle-aged and aged fairy fanciers are flocking to the ‘Flower Fairies’ exhibition at the Garden Museum until 30 September 2018. There is something utterly enchanting about

If you are planning a traditional Victorian style Christmas with the halls decked with holly and a bunch of mistletoe above the front door you should make haste to Tenbury Wells tomorrow and the following two Tuesdays. ‘We will be selling more than 600 lots of mistletoe,’ says auctioneer Nick Champion who is continuing a

As gardens spring into life, contemporary floral jewellery is celebrated in thrilling Bloomin’ Jewels, a selling exhibition at Contemporary Applied Arts (CCA). ‘I thought, let’s go crazy,’ says Christine Lalumia, the enthusiastic director of CAA, telling me how the exhibition came about. ‘What can we do to bring gardens to the fore?’ She explains that

Four hundred private gardens to visit in two days is an astonishing statistic but that is what the National Garden Scheme’s (known by many as the NGS) annual weekend Festival (6th & 7th June) is all about. The NGS was originally set up in 1927 to raise money for nurses who didn’t have pensions in

16th May -7th June Dubbed ‘the fastest growing fringe festival ever’ by the World Festival network, the Chelsea Fringe, www.chelseafringe.co.uk now in its fourth year, is firmly established as a highlight of the gardening calendar. ‘The idea is twofold, to celebrate the amazing work that community gardens do, and to open up links between gardens and

What brings together Ljubljana, Bristol, Turin, Norwich, Kent and Brighton, not forgetting London and Vienna? Answer: Chelsea Fringe, the open-access festival celebrating everything to do with gardens, plants, landscape and the environment. ‘I knew my life would massively change from the moment I dreamt up the Chelsea Fringe’ said Tim Richardson, the Founder-Director behind this