England’s Charming Cotswolds Gardens

DETAILS

Day 1, Sunday, June 22: ARRIVAL

Tour members independently arrange travel to Heathrow Airport and transfer on their own to the Hilton London Heathrow Airport at Terminal 4, where a room is booked for them (included in the tour price).

We’ll gather for a Welcome Dinner in the hotel restaurant at 6:30 PM (included in the tour price).

Day 2, Monday, June 23: MOOR WOOD RAMBLING ROSES, WHICHFORD POTTERY

At wild and romantic Moor Wood Rambling Roses, we’ll see a National Collection of Rambling Roses, which Susie and Henry Robinson began in 1983 with the goal of preserving species and varieties that were becoming lost to gardeners. The end of June should be a very good time to see these beauties at their peak! In addition to the roses, they maintain an apple orchard, wildflower meadow and many very old trees, including a cedar tree that they estimate to be about 300 years old.

Gardeners all over the world proudly display Whichford Pottery’s handcrafted terra-cotta flowerpots, and we’ll be lucky enough to witness their making. See how these beautiful pieces come to fruition and meet the craftspeople who make them. We’ll also be able to shop the display area and see the charming gardens while we’re here.

We check into the Arden Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon for 3 nights & gather for dinner in the restaurant hotel (included).

Day 3, Tuesday, June 24: PETTIFERS, BROUGHTON GRANGE & FREE TIME IN STRATFORD-UPON AVON

First today, we visit Pettifers, a stylish townhouse garden designed by the owner Gina Price. With little gardening experience, Price started in the early 1990s with a conventional, old-fashioned garden. Gradually through visiting other gardens and asking for criticism from knowledgeable friends, Price began editing. Today Pettifers is known for its innovative plant choices, unusual plant pairings, and vivid color combinations, all within a confident structure. Price admits to being influenced by the Dutch-originated New Perennials Movement but says she couldn't have a garden without English prettiness. We'll enjoy a visit with the head gardener while we're here.

Broughton Grange Gardens’ owners turned to designer Tom Stuart-Smith for a walled garden 25 years ago, and the result is one of the most well-known and celebrated contemporary gardens in Great Britain. It beautifully combines traditional elements, such as parterres and topiaries, with more modern approaches, such as meadows filled with grasses, sleek lines and hardscaping elements. Trained trees frame vistas of the Oxfordshire countryside and offer structure amongst exuberant plantings of annuals, perennials and shrubs. There’s a lot to see in this extensive garden and we’ll get to enjoy the views while eating lunch together here (included).

This afternoon and evening you’ll be free to explore the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. Wander the streets and admire the half-timbered architecture. Do a little shopping. Take a Shakespeare walking tour and see Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, Shakespeare’s birthplace, New Place and Hall’s Croft, and make reservations to see a play at the Royal Shakespeare Company & Theatres, which is across the street from our hotel. Or maybe your interests are more modern: Take a boat ride on the canal, visit The Butterfly Farm or tour the MAD Museum, which celebrates kinetic art and automa.

You’ll be able to choose your own dinner option this evening.

Day 4, Wednesday, June 25: HIDCOTE & KIFTSGATE

This morning we visit the iconic Hidcote Manor. Starting in 1907, Lawrence Johnston, a talented American plantsman with a strong sense of design, created the garden considered by many to be a masterpiece. A series of hedged, intimate rooms, each with its individual character, are linked by narrow passageways that eventually lead to lawns and views of the countryside beyond. Throughout, Johnston used a wide variety of plants, many found on his plant-collecting trips. It's noteworthy that Hidcote, with its themed garden rooms, changed how gardens were made in England and still influences garden makers today.

Next, we travel the short distance to Kiftsgate. A visit to this garden is not complete without understanding how three generations of women in one family have shaped the garden and made it into a beloved treasure. The garden was started in the 1920s by Heather Muir, who fearlessly employed an intuitive approach to creating her gardens instead of using a more formalized plan. In the 1950s, Muir's daughter, Diany Binny, continued the garden’s evolution by introducing a semicircular swimming pool on the lower level, commissioning sculptural features, and opening Kiftsgate for public enjoyment for the first time. Today, Anne Chambers, daughter of Binny and granddaughter of Muir, shapes the garden. Her new Water Garden is a contemporary oasis and is evidence of her desire to bring the garden into the 21st century.

We stay in the Arden Hotel for the last night and gather for dinner here (included).

Day 5, Thursday, June 26: SUDELEY CASTLE & HANHAM COURT GARDENS

This morning we’ll visit Sudeley Castle, the last home of Henry VIII’s sixth wife, Katherine Parr. The castle and church themselves are fascinating, but we’ll also wander the expansive gardens, including the Queens’ Garden full of roses, the walled secret garden’s perennial borders and the courtyard knot garden. This site hosts several ruins, such as the tithe barn and part of the castle in which Elizabeth I once stayed. They’ve been turned into beautiful gardens as well. Sudeley Castle doesn’t just live in the past though. New displays of 30 life-sized animal sculptures in the CoExistence exhibit throughout the grounds seek to spread the message of peaceful coexistence with nature. We’ll lunch together here (included) before our next stop.

We now travel to Hanham Court Gardens. Garden designers Isabel and Jullian Bannerman designed and planted them while they owned the property from 1994 to 2012, just for their own pleasure. Known for their love of fragrant plants, they filled the garden to overflowing with roses, peonies, and lilies. They also designed architectural elements — contemporary arches, gates, and railings that reference historical examples. Richard & Julia Boissevain, the current owners, are committed to restoring and preserving this beautiful design. Wander through the whimsical topiary yews, then make your way up to the orchard for a good view of the gardens close to the house. Finally, take the woodland walk to catch a view of the Victorian-style stumpery.

We’ll check into the Indigo Hotel in Bath and will have some free time to explore Bath and find dinner in a local restaurant this evening.

Day 6, Friday, June 27: RODMARTON MANOR & HODGES BARN

Not only is Rodmarton Manor a shining example of English Arts & Crafts architecture, but this early 20th-century home is surrounded by an 8-acre garden designed in a series of rooms that are rather formal close to the house but gradually become less so further away from the house and eventually blend into the views of the Cotswolds countryside. Architect Ernest Barnsley, who designed both the house and garden, included a walled garden, herbaceous borders, formal topiary and hedges, a vegetable garden and much more. We’ll get to see both the house and garden when we visit this 4th generation estate and even enjoy lunch together here (included).

Hodges Barn was built as a dovecote in 1499 for a nearby (but no longer standing) big house, but in the mid- 20th century, the new owner took on the task of converting it to a home. Then she laid out an Arts and Crafts garden, which employs stone walls and tapestry hedges to divide the space into garden rooms. While we’re here, we’ll see a beautiful collection of roses and clematis tumble over the walls, as well as herbaceous borders, a water garden, a woodland garden, a kitchen garden, and many beautiful old trees.

Tonight we’ll gather for dinner together (included).

Day 7, Saturday, June 28: IFORD MANOR. FREE TIME IN BATH

Lovely Iford Manor is our garden this morning, an Italianate garden in a beautiful river valley of the southern Cotswolds. It was created in the early 20th century by the architect Harold Peto, who had made Iford Manor his home. Peto recognized that the surrounding steep valley made an ideal backdrop for the garden architecture he liked. Using the topography, he created ascending terraces with every level having its own mood enhanced by handsome statues and ornaments collected on his travels to Italy. We’ll make sure to pause on each terrace to take in the bucolic views over the countryside and have a very informative tour, in which we’ll learn about Harold Peto’s design philosophy and the story of the garden’s development. Lunch will be in Iford’s Restaurant (included) before we leave for our afternoon garden.

This afternoon you’ll have free time in the lovely ancient city of Bath, founded by the Romans in the first century. Although you can’t bathe in its original thermal pools anymore, you can still tour the Roman Baths, and there are plenty of other things to do in this UNESCO World Heritage City. Walk, join a hop-on-hop-off bus tour or take a more leisurely boat tour. Enjoy the iconic architecture in the Georgian Royal Crescent, shop, dine… whatever you like!

Dinner on your own.

Day 8, Sunday, June 29: STOURHEAD & MOTTISFONT ABBEY

Our morning destination is Stourhead, a 250-year-old garden made in the English landscape style, a design philosophy that idealizes nature. The 18th-century banker Henry Hoare II created the garden after being inspired by landscape paintings he saw on a trip to Italy and France. He chose a secluded woodland valley and, over 40 years, dammed up a stream to make a lake, carved out a grotto, built classical temples (sometimes called follies) with stunning framed views, and created elegant bridges over the water. He planted many trees and shrubs, which today are some of the finest specimens found in England. This garden has been called a masterwork. After strolling around the lake on the shaded path that touches each architectural feature, you may agree. Enjoy lunch here on your own.

This afternoon we’ll make a stop at Mottisfont Abbey Estate, a stunning National Trust property in Hampshire. In addition to the impressive converted Medieval priory. Wander through the house to learn more about its history and see beautiful architecture and art. Then take in the gardens. Inside the walled garden, we’ll find another collection of historic roses, which are typically at their peak in late June. But this estate has many gardens to discover, including a Medieval kitchen garden that was rediscovered and restored in the last several years, a small lavender parterre, and some amazing tree specimens, including a London plane tree that is thought to be the largest in Britain.

We return to our airport hotel for our last night & celebrate our week of garden visits with a farewell dinner in the restaurant.

Day 9, Monday, June 30: DEPARTURE

Our time together has ended, but garden lovers always find fresh inspiration wherever they are. Tour members can choose to return home or carry on the adventure.