Wakehurst Place is frequently described as Kew’s garden in the country. This delightful and educational garden in Sussex is fascinating for children and adults alike. And whilst it is certainly educational from a scientific and botanical perspective, dry as dusty seeds it is not.
The Millennium Seed Bank has its home at Wakehurst Place. The exhibition in the Seed Bank not only explains how plants are critical to our continued existence on this planet, but why the collection and storage of seeds is vital. And what a variety of seed shapes and sizes there are! I’ll revisit the Millennium Seed Bank in another blog, and just share these seed- inspired sculptures with you for now…
Wakehurst Place holds five National Plant Collections for Skimmia, Hypericum, Eucryphia (the most recent, recognised in 2015) Betula and Nothofagus (Southern Beeches)
Plant Heritage is the body which monitors the National Plant Collections for the British Isles. The aim of the National Collections is to conserve garden plants so that they are not lost from cultivation. This helps to maintain not only heritage as well as popular varieties but also a wider gene pool for any one particular plant species.
The National Collection of Betula, or Birch trees, is Wakehurst’s most established collection. Birch trees are ideal garden trees for smaller gardens; and are loved for their pure white bark. The Betula can be found in Bethlehem Wood.
The Hypericum National Collection is mainly found near the Mansion. Hypericum is probably better known as St Johns Wort and has over 350 species and cultivars. Although there are both annuals and shrubby perennials within the Hypericum genus, they all bear yellow flowers.
Some people might consider the Millennium Seed Bank and five National Plant Collections to be enough for any garden. However, there is far more to Wakehurst Place than these.
A late summer visit proved to be very colourful. Mixed herbaceous borders next to the mansion were filled with hot shades of red, orange, bright pink and yellow. It could have been garish, but it wasn’t. Cooling green was provided by the hedge on one side. And the warm stones of the house softened some of the brighter tomes just sufficiently so they melted into one another.
Trees thrive in this Sussex garden. There is a pinetum, which is a collection of conifers, not just pines. It was originally created in the early years of the twentieth century by Gerald Loder, then the owner of Wakehurst. Among the many beautiful trees are some that are small, and others which are large. Such as the Giant Redwood, or Sequoiadendron giganteum. These trees can live to not merely hundreds, but thousands of years in age. Incredible.
Oh and there’s also a kitchen garden, formal shrub borders, a pond, living willow arbours and tunnels to play in…
Wakehurst Place – perhaps you should add it to your half term schedule for a family outing? It’s a garden that you could visit many times and always find something new to learn and do.
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