My Traveling Joys

Friday, August 9, 2019

A Wee Day Trip to Wye: Gardens of Kent

8/09/2019 03:00:00 AM by Joy1 comment

Day Trip from London

I figure the best way to entice my husband on a day trip from London is to mention “bike ride and beer” while really, I’m gunning for gardens and farm shops in the countryside.

During June, both of us were working a lot, so on the weekends, I tried to plan activities that would get us out of the city. On a return trip to the annual CAMRA Real Ale and Cider Festival in Tenterden, I picked up a flyer for visiting private gardens in Kent through the National Garden Scheme. I’d never heard of this project, but since I love gardens, it piqued my interest.

I love visiting the Kent region as it’s one of the easiest for us to reach by train from London and because it’s so green. Kent is nicknamed the “Garden of England” because it has so many gardens, orchards and old hop gardens.

Apparently, UK’s NGS coordinates with towns, private garden owners and manor house owners to open up their gardens to the public during a certain time period. The annual project gives access to more than 3,500 private gardens in England and Wales and raises money for nursing and health charities through the admissions fees and selling of teas and cake. You can check on the NGS website for open gardens as many are still hosting this project from now until the autumn months.

Farmer’s Market Stop

So, we started off our Sunday adventure by taking a train from Victoria Station in London to Ashford and from there we cycled about 4.5 miles to Perry Court Farm, a family-owned farm shop just outside of Wye. We had a look around the lovely produce and then had cake and coffee outside at the farm’s café. Surprisingly, I have no photographic evidence of said cake, but I can tell you that the Victoria Sponge was delicious.

We continued cycling into the village of Wye and stopped at the 15^th-century St. Gregory and St. Martin Church to buy our garden tickets and map for £5 each. The tickets gave us access to six or seven different gardens in and around the village of Wye. We had our bikes so it was easy to ride from one garden to the next.

Gardens Galore in Wye

We started at the home of Steve Bloom, and his wife, a UK-based wildlife photographer. What made this garden stop so interesting is that some of Bloom’s wildlife photos were displayed outside, peeking out from the greenery and flowers. His wildlife images were amazing!

The other private gardens in Wye featured a wide array of roses, foxglove, delphiniums, hollyhocks, lavender, lupines, peonies, fruit trees, vegetables and many flowers that I don’t even know the names of. Plus, all the garden owners were always on hand to have a chat and answer any questions. As I’ve said before, the English people LOVE their gardens!

Beer Break

After a few hours of cycling and viewing gardens, we stopped for a beer break at the Tickled Trout, a charming village pub with a large beer garden overlooking the Great Stour River.

A Country Garden in Wye

We ended our garden tour at the Spring Grove Farm House, a large country garden filled with lots of colorful flowers and a small pond.

And More Beer

Finally, we cycled back to Ashford station and stopped at the newest brewery in Kent called Curious Brewery. This brewery, started by the English winemaker Chapel Down, opened in May and features a huge two-story building where you can taste and drink a few pints and even do a brewery tour. We had hoped to dine here, but unfortunately, the restaurant stops serving food at 5 p.m. on Sundays. Oh well! We sampled some of the brewery’s ales instead.

If you’re looking for a day out of London, there’s plenty to do and see around the village of Wye, which once was a historic market town that was settled as early as the Roman period.

Sunday, June 30, 2019

Visiting the RHS Chelsea Flower Show as an American

6/30/2019 05:11:00 PM by Joy2 comments

Since we moved to London nearly three years ago, I’ve been dying to attend one of the foremost British gardening events in the U.K.

Put simply, the U.S. does not host a gardening event like the stunning RHS Chelsea Flower Show that happens to attract nearly 165,000 people annually over a five-day period.

Tickets for this event, aptly nicknamed the “World Cup of Gardening,” sell out every year. So this year, I was determined to go and signed up as a RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) member and bought advance tickets way back in February! Hubby and I attended this year’s show on the second day in late May which was dedicated for RHS members only.

Although we only live in a two-bedroom apartment here, one can always dream of having gardens like one of these, right?

I mean, how do you build an entire old stone house like this just for an event?

And how does one set mature trees into a temporary garden scene like this one? Amazing!

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show was everything I had imagined it would be and more! I took nearly 300 photos of the various show gardens, 17 smaller gardens and other gardening exhibitions, which spanned across 23 acres, so this blog post is more a photo post.

A wee bit of history:

· Held in Chelsea since 1912, the show is hosted by the RHS on the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

· Originally called “The Great Spring Show,” the flower show first started in 1804 in a large tent with 244 exhibitors in Kensington. The show was used to highlight many of the top plant and seed merchants across the U.K. The show later changed names and moved to the hospital grounds in 1931.

Now, back to the main event!

Since we had the special RHS-member only tickets, the Chelsea Flower Show felt quite civilized and the gardens were quite fresh. I’ve heard that by the last day, the show can get a bit chaotic because it’s also the day that many vendors want to get rid of items and sell their flowers. Also, I chose the p.m. ticket, which means we only had access to the show from 5:30-8 p.m., because we both had to work. Having less times mean that you need to prioritize which gardens you want to see, but the advantage is that the gardens are better to photograph in those pre-sunset hours.

Sadly, I don't understand why the show doesn't stay open later because the sun doesn't set until nearly 9 p.m. at this time of the year.

Basically, if you attend the show in 2020, you won't be disappointed. I love flowers and I'm so happy I finally got to attend the show this year! Maybe next year, I'll buy an all-day ticket!

Hope you enjoy the RHS Chelsea Flower Show as much as I did!

The Montessori Centenary Children’s Garden

The garden was sponsored by the Montessori Centre International featured two greenhouses set among living walls and an interactive wildlife pond area.

The Donkey Sanctuary: Donkeys Matter

This garden featured a terraced garden of silver and purple Mediterranean-style plants. The international animal welfare charity, The Donkey Sanctuary, was celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and the garden provides a showcase for the charity's international work.