Delightful Dixter

I’ve had a friend from America staying with us which gave me the perfect excuse to take a bit of time off from my own garden and pay my first visit of the year to Great Dixter. Thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund, and many donations from the public, it has now got the money to do some essential work which means that part of the house is shrouded in plastic and scaffolding, but this did not greatly detract from the ever-enticing garden. Highlights included magnificent magnolia blooms against the clear deep-blue sky, swathes of spring bulbs, a fritillary butterfly, swallows (my first of the year) and a robin that had made a nest in the protective layers wrapped around one of the bananas in the Exotic Garden. Plant highlights included the Courtyard display (moved from its usual position round the now-shrouded porch and a gorgeous Bergenia (not two words that are commonly linked) called Bergenia omeiana. Its flower stalks are longer and the flowers are larger than most varieties and it looked beautiful amongst Arum italicum pictum and pulmonaria – however I’m told it is not hardy, so this is one to admire rather than acquire.

Learn more about Great Dixter.