The festive season got off to a flying start this year at Harlow Carr with Santa whizzing in from Lapland with a couple of his trainee reindeer and assorted helpers last weekend. An unprecedented number of visitors watched them arrive with their sleigh on a perfect sunny and frosty winter day and joined... Read more..

As I write, the sun is shining at Wisley. What a pleasant change. The Garden is looking very pretty, with some outstanding witch hazels ( Hamamelis ) shining brightly in the Wild Garden and on Battleston Hill. Their fragrance carries some fair distance, and the sweet scent mingles with that of the numerous... Read more..

We were all very sad to hear of the death of Geoffrey Smith last Friday. Geoffrey came to Harlow Carr as a young man of 26, full of enthusiasm, ideas and determination - and no little skill too. With a small team and miniscule resources he set about carving out a garden from an empty field in a cold... Read more..

Our Grow Your Own weekend proved exceptionally popular on the weekend of 7-8th March. As part of the event we celebrated the 200th birthday of the famous cooking apple ‘Bramley’s Seedling’ AGM. Jim Arbury and his team in the Fruit and Trials Department planted the tree at the edge of the Fruit Field... Read more..

What a beautiful day it is today. Glorious sun and blue sky, and Wisley looks fantastic. I think the sunflowers on the Trials Field would agree, maybe thinking they're in Tuscany... if sunflowers could think! We've flowers all over, and the Top Terrace bedding is really tall now, with the cosmos... Read more..

Our Wild at Wisley children's play area opened recently, and this week we've installed the new sign. It was skillfully carved by Kirsty Summerhayes who works in the Fruit and Trials department, from wood from a fallen oak tree in the garden. Wood is the major theme here, and Paul Sivell has carved... Read more..

Colourful flowers and tempting vegetables, plus an orchard full of fruit and the promise of autumn leaf colour to come - Wisley is looking wonderful this month. The Glasshouse is brimming with begonias amongst an outstanding display of temperate and tropical plants. Our brand new Visitor Guide and map... Read more..

Through the Pinetum and into Howard's Field late summer and autumn colour is coming into its own. Our heather beds are doing well, and there are carpets of beautiful pink and white Cyclamen hederifolium . And right at the end is the Plants for Bugs site, being overseen by Helen Bostock on of the... Read more..

We are enjoying the autumn so far at Wisley. Fruits, flowers and veg are in evidence all over the Garden, and the leaves are starting to turn. We're looking forward to our Taste of Autumn Festival next week, 16-19th October, with great anticipation - it's been a fantastic event over the last... Read more..