Gardens of South Wales

4 day society holiday from Saturday 21st July – Tuesday 24th July 2012. (Note that the start day is a Saturday this year)

To register interest email Phil or Jean on holiday@edgworth-horticultural-society.co.uk or call Phil on 01024 300541

Tucked away in the valleys of South Wales are some fine parks and gardens, both large and small; ancient and modern.   The centrepiece of our tour is the National Botanic Garden of Wales, the first garden of its type to be created in the United Kingdom for 200 years. This spectacular re-interpretation of the historical garden blends the careful restoration of the historic, double-walled garden with Norman Foster’s Great Greenhouse, the largest single span glasshouse in the world, where mere panes of glass separate the familiar green hills of Wales from a panoramic sweep of warm, Mediterranean scenery

By contrast Aberglasney is a superb 16th/17th century garden, which was discovered after 50 years of neglect and has been restored to produce a garden with immense appeal, including a unique Elizabethan/Jacobean cloister and parapet walk. Dyffryn Botanic Gardens have also been recently restored to Thomas Mawson’s original 1904 design with the help of lottery funding. In Swansea we visit two large, municipal gardens-Clyne Garden, which contains various National Collections of plants set in beautiful parkland; and Singleton Botanic Garden, where we see one of Wales’ premier plant collections and glasshouses which reproduce a variety of climates from around the world. At the other end of the scale the private garden of 11 Eastcliff, by the sea, covers only about one-third of an acre. Ridlers Garden is a graphic designer’s garden behind a modest terrace house which has formal spaces and vistas divided by stepped pathways, sculptures, yew hedges and box topiary, while Westonbury Mill is located in a wonderfully peaceful area of the Welsh Marches close to the historic half-timbered village of Pembridge, with splendid views across meadows to the surrounding hills. We will be based in Carmarthen at the 3 star Ivy Bush Royal Hotel where dinner is served in the evening (all rooms are en-suite). Once a favoured retreat of Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton, it has been modernised and blends old world charm with modern facilities

Singleton Park Botanic Gardens

Saturday 21 July 2012

We depart from either the Barlow Institute or Bromley Cross Station and head south (with a tea/coffee stop en route) to Dyffryn Botanic Gardens, near Cardiff,  a Grade 1 listed Edwardian garden designed by landscape architect Thomas Mawson displaying a series of garden ‘rooms’ enclosed within clipped Yew hedges. There is something to see year round at Dyffryn – a Roman garden; Japanese garden; fountains and pools and an arboretum containing trees from all around the world including the original Acer Griseum collected by ‘Chinese Wilson’. Dyffryn is one of the best 100 gardens in the UK as selected by the British Tourism Association. The Herbaceous Border, Dyffryn Gardens (Copyright Robin Drayton)

Sunday 22 July 2012

After breakfast we travel to the National Botanic Garden of Wales, in the exquisite 568 acre estate in the heart of Carmarthenshire. Among the innovative and informative features here are the Great Greenhouses, the oval walled garden; the water discovery centre and the herbaceous broadwalk. There are several options for lunch here. We continue to Aberglasney in the beautiful Towy valley. This superb 16th/17th century garden was rediscovered after 50 years of neglect and is now a garden with immense appeal. Set within nine acres are six different garden spaces with a rich and diverse collection of plants, including three walled gardens and the unique Elizabethan/Jacobean cloister; a walled garden of concentric herbaceous beds and a parapet walk. The Ninfarium, Aberglasney House Aberglasney Gardens

Monday 23 July 2012

After breakfast we head to Swansea to visit Singleton Park Botanic Garden, located within the old walled garden which was once part of the estate of Lord Swansea.  The gardens contain many fine specimens of rare and exotic plants.  A wonderful feature on entering from the north is the herbaceous border, which was originally planted in 1921. The stunning plant collections and creative bedding schemes are truly breath-taking. After lunch we go a short distance to Clyne Garden, at Blackpill. This spectacular garden contains 50 acres of picturesque woodland landscape with internationally recognised collections of rhododendrons, ekianthus and pieris, together with a varied bog garden. In contrast, our last garden of the day, 11 Eastcliff in nearby Southgate, is a private garden covering just one-third of an acre. Situated by the seaside with a woodland area and gravel bed, a series of island and bordered beds offer year-round colour and interest and contain some unusual Mediterranean plants; euphorbia; melianthus and artemisia

Tuesday 24 July 2012

This morning after breakfast we will check out of our hotel. Our first visit this morning will be to Ridlers Garden in Swansea. This private one-third of an acre garden, owned by a graphic designer, has a series of formal spaces and vistas divided by narrow stepped pathways, yew hedges, sculptures and box topiary. Our final visit is to , a water mill garden situated amid fields and orchards in a wonderfully peaceful area of the Welsh Marches close to the historic half-timbered village of Pembridge. The garden has colourful waterside plantings of bog and moisture-loving plants around a tangle of streams and ponds. Following our visit we continue homeward where we expect to return late afternoon.

Ridler's Garden

Westonbury Mill

Included in the price

•    3 nights dinner, bed and breakfast at the 3-star Ivy Bush Royal Hotel, Carmarthen.  All rooms have private facilities
•    Comfortable coaching throughout
•    Admissions to Dyffryn Botanic Gardens, Aberglasney, the National Botanic Gardens of Wales, Singleton Park Botanic Garden and the private gardens of Clyne, Ridlers, 11 Eastcliff and Westonbury Mill
•    Services of a Brightwater Holidays representative
Not included (per person)
•    Single room supplement        £45.00
•    Insurance    £26.00 (under 65yrs);    £46.00 (65-74yrs    £58.00 (75yrs and over)
•    Lunches and snacks