(Photo taken by Elfleda at last year’s Chelsea Flower Show.)
The Chelsea Flower Show might be over, but if you missed it, there’s still plenty of time for the Royal Horticultural Society-recommended Open Garden Squares Weekend, on the 9th and 10th of June. 160 of London’s private gardens and hidden squares will be open for ticket-holders to explore, some of them with activities for children, some with refreshments, some with plants for sale (you can search for gardens fulfilling specific criteria on the site). There are even a few in Chelsea, including the stunningly lovely Chelsea Physic Garden.
The weekend is organised by the London Parks & Gardens Trust, an independent charity launched at the 1994 Chelsea Flower Show. It also organises a series of Summer walks around different London parks and gardens (the City of London Cemetery in Wanstead sounds particularly interesting), with tickets costing between £3 and £30.
The Open Garden Squares Weekend itself is sponsored by Loire Valley Wines, so many of the gardens will have wine tastings. A few will have performances, too: a “medley of classic songs” from the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art. The gardens themselves, however, with their early-June flowers and foliage, should remain the main attraction. With any luck, the Bank Holiday Weekend will have used up all the rain and cold for the next month, and it might even be sunny.
Open Garden Squares Weekend: all over London, 9-10 June, £7.50 on the weekend or £6 in advance for admittance to all Open Squares gardens.
Technorati Tags: Chelsea Flower Show, Open Garden Squares Weekend, London
