gardens

Alnwick Gardens in Northumberland is a popular spot among those who know about it but I fear there are not enough have discovered this gem in the north of England.

Alnwick Gardens, a hidden treasure in Northumberland, is a favourite among those who’ve had the pleasure of discovering it, but there are many more who are yet to stumble upon this northern gem.

During a road trip with friends, Alycia McNamara of the Express chanced upon this enchanting spot and it’s been on her mind ever since. They were there at the peak of summer when the gardens were awash with a sea of pink, white and red roses, all the more stunning under clear blue skies. It felt less like an English garden and more akin to the romantic settings of Romeo and Juliet, reminiscent of Italian landscapes, she said.

“The garden is perfectly kept which, for such a large space, is very impressive,” she said. “There are events all year round which make this an experience much more than just leaves, trees and flowers and it also means there’s something for everyone who visits. You can view upcoming events on Alnwick Garden’s website but some which stood out to me are the summer music nights and the winter lights shows which are on every year.

“It is also home to the UK’s deadliest garden which holds more than 100 toxic, intoxicating, and narcotic plants. The boundaries of the Poison Garden are kept behind black iron gates and only open on guided tours. The highlight for me was most certainly the rose gardens, which feature 300 shrub roses and can be booked for weddings. The area was created by David Austin roses and was unveiled at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2001.”

Adult tickets are £192.0 on the day and up to four children can enter for free.

While she didn’t stay in Alnwick itself, there are numerous nearby attractions worth exploring. Alnwick Castle, a favourite among history buffs and Harry Potter enthusiasts (it served as Hogwarts in the first two films), is one such spot.

Additionally, just a 25-minute drive away lies Bamburgh beach, recently crowned Britain’s top coastal destination.

DID you know there are rainforests in Britain? Nope – me neither.

But you may well have visited one without realising if you’ve holidayed in Cornwall, Wales or along the Atlantic Coastline.

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Especially if you remember walking through green woodland packed with ferns, moss and lichen – with a really memorable earthy, damp scent.

They once covered more than 20 per cent of the UK – but history devoured them – and now there’s less than one per cent.

So the Wildlife Trust, sponsored by Aviva, has just launched an epic 100-year restoration project to bring them back.

The temperate rainforest restoration programme will restore approximately 1,755 hectares of temperate rainforest across the British Isles. 

Some of the new sites created through this programme include Bowden Pillars in Devon, Bryn Ifan in North Wales, Creg y Cowin and Glion Darragh on the Isle of Man, Trellwyn Fach in Pembrokeshire, and – most recently – Skiddaw in Cumbria.

Garden Designer Zoe Claymore, won a silver gilt medal at RHS Chelsea for her British Rainforest Garden.

She told me: “I didn’t know it at the time – but I played in a British rainforest as a child. The end of my grandparents garden in Devon went into Lidford Gorge which is one of the last existing rainforests.

“In the UK they’re found in the Goldilocks zone – not too hot, not too cold – and by rivers, gullies and gorges, because you also need the moisture from the river creating that ecosystem.”

But there are ways of recreating one in your own garden, she said.

“Even if  you don’t live in an area suited to creating a rainforest there’s other plants that will create the same vibes.

“Create shade with Hazels – they’re a great small tree which gives a real native-feel and perfect for small gardens. Or include hollies, birch or willows.

“Create a water feature – from a little stream with a few rocks or simply as an old-school rock water bowl – to  create that sense of humidity.

“But even if you just did a pond in a pot surrounded by some fun little logs, that will create habitat, that will bring wildlife, and it will create that kind of feeling of rainforest-y wetness.”

It’s easy to make a home made pond – using old washing up bowls. Tesco’s are currently selling one for just £2.75.

First choose a spot that’s sunny but not in direct sunlight all day – otherwise the water will evaporate.

Then all you have to do is put some logs around it, and a few stones, so wildlife can climb in and out easily – almost like a ramp.

Ideally fill it with rain water rather than tap.

And then put in about three water plants – like mini water lillies or water forget-me-not and sit back waiting for the wildlife.

Zoe added: “Then use British classic woodland plants and really focus on ferns – the unsung beautiful heroes of shade gardening – as well as bluebells, foxgloves, primulars, ivy, bananas and – if you’ve got a wet area – moss – which is the jewel in the crown – so your garden will be green all year round.”

For a ‘how to’ guide adapted to all UK gardens – as well as a rainforest-inspired pot combination  – head to www.zoeclaymore.com – and a share of the proceeds will go the Wildlife Trust.

Also in Veronica’s Column this week…

Gardening tips, news, plant of the week and a competition to win a garden border worth £195

PLANT OF THE WEEK! Dierama Wind Nymph Pink – pictured above – clump forming perennial with slender arching stems with soft pink blooms and evergreen foliage. Bees love it. Plant in direct sunlight, likes well drained soil but might need protection in Winter.

NEWS! A dad’s 60-year-old lawnmower has taken its place in gardening history as the UK’s oldest Flymo – after he read a plea in Sun Gardening. 

Pete Goddard’s monumental mower was inducted into the British Lawnmower Museum in Southport, Merseyside, last week after Flymo sent out a request for old mowers. 

The rare blue Flymo was unveiled last month – taking its place in the museum alongside King Charles, Brian May, and Nicholas Parsons’ former mowers.

It came after a nationwide search for the UK’s oldest Flymo to celebrate 60 years since the iconic hover mower was invented.

The 79-year-old retired Highway Maintenance Operative’s Flymo was originally bought in the 1960s by his father-in-law and lovingly maintained across three generations – and still works today.

NEWS! Great Comp Gardens will show off some salvias not released to the general public before – at it’s  annual Summer Show next weekend. 

The seven acre garden in Platt, near Sevenoaks will be at it’s best – with the hot and cool border in bloom, salvias bringing swathes of colour to the perennial borders and the Italian Garden in full flower in time for their annual two-day flagship event. 

The weekend event features a group of talented artists, craftspeople, award-winning nurseries and garden ornamental suppliers plus live jazz bands on the lawn.

Curator William Dyson says: “We can’t wait to share the garden with our Summer Show visitors – it looks particularly splendid in August with the salvias in full flow.

“We’ve also introduced lots of new and interesting plants to the garden this year including a collection of new world salvias that we’ve inherited from Lindsay Pink (a collector in Portsmouth) that people won’t have seen before. 

“We urge people to come along and see our revamped planting schemes which help to showcase new salvias that we have been keeping under wraps until now. There are salvias that I’ve only seen once before and can’t wait to show people. We are mixing in drifts of South American annuals like Cosmos for interest and colour and Tagetes erecta (Mexican marigolds) plus lots of varieties of dahlias.”

For more info visit www.greatcompgarden.co.uk

WIN! Garden on a Roll – which provide ready-made garden border paper templates, and the plants to put them in – are offering three £195 borders at 3m x 60cm of any style – including the  ‘Wildlife border’ for bees and butterflies. To enter visit www.thesun.co.uk/GardenBorders, or write to Garden on a Roll competition,  PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP. Include your name, age, email or phone. UK residents 18+ only. Entries close 11.59pm. August 16, 2025. T&Cs apply

JOB OF THE WEEK! Stake your dahlias, trim your lavenders, take fuchsia cuttings, prune climbing and rambling roses, add tomato food to corn and peppers.

For more gardening content follow me @biros_and_bloom

Aug. 1 (UPI) — On Friday, White House visitors in Washington, D.C., could better see the newly repaved Rose Garden.

President Donald Trump has said the area needs a hard surface because press events and other occasions in the garden often can’t accommodate all the visitors. He also has said that he wanted the Rose Garden to rival the gardens he has visited in Europe.

It’s not the only structural changes implemented by Trump at the White House.

In June, Trump had two flagpoles installed at the White House and paid for the project himself.

And this past month, the White House also announced that a ballroom would be built adjacent to the White House. Trump and other “patriot donors” have agreed to cover the cost to build it, the president said. That project is scheduled to begin next month.

See the UPI photos above for a look at how the White House gardens have changed over the years and through different presidencies.

El Capricho Park, Madrid

El Capricho, on the outskirts of Madrid, is one of the city’s lesser-known parks. It was built in 1784 by the Duke and Duchess of Osuna, and visited by 18th-century artists such as Francisco de Goya. Its 17-hectare gardens were designed by Jean Baptiste Mulot, who also worked on the Petit Trianon gardens at the Palace of Versailles. They are in three sections: Italian, French and English landscape. The park also has a small lake, a labyrinth, a bandstand and a mansion. One fascinating feature is an underground bunker, built in 1937 during the Spanish civil war – there are free guided tours at weekends.
Open weekends and public holidays, 9am-9pm, April to September, then 9am-6.30pm, October to March, esmadrid.com

Onion Garden, London

You’re never far from a garden in London: 20% of the city is public green space, including about 3,000 parks, and it became the world’s first National Park City in 2019. As well as eight royal parks and vast areas of greenery such as Hampstead Heath, the city has numerous hidden havens. One of them is the tiny Onion Garden near Victoria Station and St James’s Park. According to the tour guide Jack Chesher, it was a “derelict concrete corner” until late 2021, when it began to be transformed into the “hanging gardens of Westminster”. The pocket park now has more than 200 species of plants – including a fair few onions – and displays artworks such as mosaic wall art and sculptures. There is a cafe and events including singing, craft workshops and poetry recitals.
Open weekdays 7.30am-5.30pm (until 10pm on Thursdays), weekends 8.30am-4.30pm, theoniongarden.org

Anne Frank Garden, Paris

This little-known walled garden, found down a dead-end road in the Marais, once belonged to the Hotel de Saint-Agnan. The hotel is now the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaisme (mahJ), and the garden, dedicated to Anne Frank, is open to the public. The central plot dates to the 17th century, and there is a small orchard, vegetable garden, pergola and children’s play area. Most moving is the chestnut tree, planted in 2007 from a graft of the tree Anne looked at from her window in Amsterdam and wrote about in her diary. As well as the mahJ, the Pompidou Centre is a short walk away.
Open 10am-9pm in summer, paris.fr

Brera Botanical Garden, Milan

Hidden behind the south wall of the Palazzo Brera in the centre of Milan is an ancient medicinal garden. Humiliati priests grew plants and meditated here in the 14th century, followed by the Jesuits. In 1775, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria ordered it be turned into a botanical garden, and it has been managed by the University of Milan since 1935. The 5,000sq m garden still has its original layout: two oval ponds; an arboretum containing two centuries-old Ginkgo biloba trees and other exotic specimens; and themed flowerbeds (medicinal, Mediterranean, plants used for dyeing, textiles, paper …)
Open 10am-6pm, Monday to Saturday, until 31 October, then 9.30am-4.30pm, until 31 March, ortibotanici.unimi.it

Centralbadets Garden, Stockholm

Right in the middle of Stockholm, off the main shopping street of Drottninggatan, is a hidden courtyard garden. In the 18th century, it was the garden of the farm where the architect Carl Hårleman lived – two of the pear trees are thought to date from this period. Another architect, Willhelm Klemming, bought the property in 1901, renovated the garden and built the Centralbadets in 1904 – still an affordable day spa today. The lush little garden has a pond with a water sculpture, flowerbeds, winding paths and shady places to sit. There are three adjacent restaurants, all with outdoor tables.
Closed at night, parker.stockholm

The Garden of the Royal Library, Copenhagen

Hidden between Christiansborg Palace and the Royal Library in a historic part of central Copenhagen is a tranquil public garden. The garden was built in 1920 on top of Tøjhushavnen, an old naval port. Reminders of this maritime past include a pond in the middle of the garden, with an eight-metre-high column that shoots a spout of water every hour on the hour, and an old mooring ring at one end. There is also a statue of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, whose manuscripts are in the library’s collection and occasionally go on display. There are benches under the trees to sit quietly with your own book.
Open 6am-10pm year-round, visitcopenhagen.com

Károlyi-kert, Budapest

Tucked away in the palace district, the Károlyi-kert is thought to be Budapest’s oldest garden, and contains Hungary’s oldest mulberry tree. It was once the private garden of the Károlyi Palace, and has been a public park since 1932 (don’t be deterred by the forbidding-looking iron railings). It is a mix of styles: geometric central flowerbeds and fountain, and English-style paths and plant arrangements. There is a children’s playground and a statue of a beloved late resident: Károly, a Belgian giant rabbit. The wine bar and restaurant Csendes Társ is next to the park and has outdoor tables right outside the gate.
Open 8am-9pm in summer, welovebudapest.com

University Library Roof Garden, Warsaw

The landscaped garden on top of the University of Warsaw’s library is one of the biggest roof gardens in Europe, at more than a hectare (2.5 acres). It opened in 2002 and remains a little-known escape from the busy Powiśle district. A gentle slope leads to the lower garden, which has a duck pond and a series of granite sculptures. The upper garden is divided into four colourful sections: gold, silver, red and green. The areas are connected by paths, bridges and pergolas, and a cascading water feature joins the upper and lower parts. The garden has panoramic views of the Warsaw skyline.
Upper garden open from April to October, lower garden open year-round, en.uw.edu.pl

Vrtba Garden, Prague

Although it is close to sights such as Charles Bridge and Lesser Town Square, this terraced garden on Petřín hill is hard to find. Visitors who seek it out are rewarded with baroque beauty. The Italianate garden was created around 1720 on the site of Vrtbovský Palace’s former vineyards. Three terraced platforms, connected by steps, are full of hornbeams, yews, and tens of thousands of flowers and shrubs. The gardens are decorated with statues, vases and paintings, and a ceremonial lighting event is held twice a year. From the pavilion on the top terrace, there are views of the castle, cathedral and old and new towns.
£5 adults/£4 children/£15 families, open 10am-7pm, April to October, prague.eu

Diomedes Botanical Gardens, Athens

The National Garden in central Athens is a well-known attraction, but the city also has a lesser-known botanic garden, a 20-minute bus ride away. Most of this vast, 186-hectare (460-acre) green space is left as a natural habitat, but 11% (about 20 hectares) is cultivated and contains more than 2,500 plant species. Visitors can walk through the arboretum, with trees from most continents; the ornamental plants section, with 15 flowerbeds and 25 ponds; the historic plants sections, with species recorded by ancient Greeks; and many more – medicinal and aromatic plants, plants of economic importance, hothouse plants, rare plants … There is also a small cafe.
Open weekdays 8am-2pm, weekends and holidays 10am-3pm, closed in August, diomedes-bg.uoa.gr

Fans of the venue said it is “nice to stroll around on a warm day” and dubbed it “cute and wholesome”

Award-winning rose gardens have been praised online as a place to add to your “weekend list.” The venue, tucked away in Norwich, Norfolk, has drawn attention online due to its picturesque views.

Peter Beales Roses, in Norwich, has been dubbed a “hidden gem” by fans on TikTok, who praised the rose gardens specifically. That will come as no surprise to many as Peter Beales is renowned for being home to the largest variety of roses in the UK and having 29 RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medals to its name.

TikTok user Shauna (@ilyxshaun) shared a clip showcasing the venue on a recent trip. Her caption read: “One for your weekend list.”

In the video, Shauna walks through the venue and shows viewers the entrance, the indoor shop selling produce, meets, handmade jewellery, the cafe, and the garden shop. She then moves on to the rose gardens, which she claims are “nice to stroll around on a warm day.”

In her voiceover, Shauna said: “This award-winning spot in Attleborough might just be Norfolk’s best kept summer day out. It’s known for its beautiful rose gardens, but there’s a lot more you can do here.

“Inside. They’ve got a shop with lots of local produce like jams, chutneys, fresh meats, even handmade jewellery. They also have a cafe for brunch and afternoon tea.

“Plus you can sit outside when the weather’s warm, which is a bonus. There’s a garden section with indoor plants, tools and just all the little bits that you didn’t know you even needed.

“But the best part, without a doubt, is the rose gardens. There were rose bushes everywhere, little archways to wander through and so many pretty corners. It’s so nice to stroll around on a warm day. Peter Bales is ideal for when you don’t have plans but want something cute and wholesome to do.”

Beneath the video, others praised the venue and shared their favourite things about it too. One viewer said: “such a lovely day out” and a second wrote: “looks lovely.”

A third added: “When I last went there was a little hidden play park too for children we had to follow signs and it was very hidden but very cute.”

A different person said: “Yep there’s a children’s play area right at the back and a little nature walk.” The praise continued, with one viewer writing: “I love visiting here solely for the rose gardens!” and another adding: “Love it here. The rose festival is fab!”

According to Peter Beales, the rose gardens allow visitors to “escape to a world of beauty and tranquillity”, where “nature’s artistry meets timeless elegance.” The venue’s website adds that the gardens are the perfect place to “lose yourself in a sensory paradise.”

The rose gardens feature rose-covered archways and walkways draped in vibrant blooms, a “stunning” observation turret offering panoramic garden views, a “serene” wildlife garden buzzing with biodiversity, and display gardens with “intoxicating perfumes and seasonal colour.”

Peter Beales Roses is based around half a mile off the A11 in Attleborough, Norfolk. The venue features free parking, wheelchair access, toilets, and baby-changing facilities. Entrance to the rose gardens, which is open seven days a week, year-round, is free.

This weekend, Descanso Gardens will unveil a meticulously curated art exhibition titled “Roots of Cool: A Celebration of Trees and Shade in a Warming World.” Co-curated by Edith de Guzman, cooperative extension climate researcher at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, and artist Jolly de Guzman — a husband-and-wife duo — the exhibition highlights all-women artists who provoke visitors to contemplate the pressing issue of shade equity, the unequal access to cooling shade across urban neighborhoods, and what a tree and shade filled future can look like for L.A.

The goals of the exhibition are clear from the start, beginning with its title, “Roots of Cool,” which creatively integrates the Fahrenheit symbol in the word “of,” a tree in the letter “t” and the word “cool” as a shadow cast from the word “roots.”

The exhibit begins in the garden’s pathways, strewn with artworks, which lead visitors to the gallery rooms housed in the park’s Sturt Haaga Gallery and historic Boddy House.

A visitor’s proposal for a new type of bus stop that offers more shade, part of the new exhibition “Roots of Cool: A Celebration of Trees and Shade in a Warming World” at Descanso Gardens on July 9, 2025.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

The first piece of art on the path, located at the gardens entrance, is Leslie K. Gray’s “Bus Stop of the Past,” an outdoor installation that shows the silhouette of a woman standing on an L.A. street, presumably waiting for a bus, with no shade structure nearby, meant to represent the climate-related challenges women bus riders faced while commuting in the past.

It’s the first of a three-part installation — the other two parts show up later in the exhibition — that invites visitors “to think temporally about where we’ve been and where we’re going,” Gray said. According to the artist, it is meant to highlight historical urban planning decisions that have left certain communities disproportionately vulnerable to heat, particularly women of color, who are prominent riders of L.A. public transportation, as indicated by statistics displayed on the bus signs accompanying the works.

Another standout of the outdoor part of the exhibition is Chantée Benefield’s “Cool Canopy,” which entails dozens of multicolored umbrellas suspended over visitors’ heads. The piece is particularly resonant given that it is actually a recreation that Benefield made after the original was lost, along with her family home, in the Eaton Fire.

Artist Chantée Benefield’s installation “Cool Canopy” at Descanso Gardens on July 9, 2025.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

“What if the trees in neighborhoods were like graffiti, just ubiquitous everywhere?” Benefield asked. Her installation is both a colorful homage to lost greenery and a powerful statement on urban shade disparities, prompting visitors to contemplate what they would do without the shade being cast by these “trees” as they walk through the sunny patch where the work is located.

The next stop on the pathway is the second piece in Gray’s three-part installation: “Bus Stop of the Present.” It’s a version of the first, but with the addition of a shade structure for the woman bus rider. However, it shows clearly that the added structure is still inadequate, reflecting many of the realities women bus commuters face today. The bus sign here contains scientific facts that make the case for the critical need for systemic urban planning changes. Gray emphasized that these facts were carefully selected from peer-reviewed research and “scientifically vetted.”

Entering the Sturt Haaga Gallery, things change. Each room is meant to elicit a specific experience around urban planning and vegetation, and so each has its own visual and auditory scheme.

Kim Abeles’ piece “Looking for Paradise (Downtown Los Angeles).”

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

It begins with a dreary, urban past: shown against gray walls, works by Kim Abeles and Diana Kohne address historical inequities. Abeles’ installation “Looking for Paradise” visualizes the uneven distribution of trees in Downtown Los Angeles, while Kohne’s painted urban landscapes vividly depict the shade inadequacies she witnessed firsthand through her bus commutes as an L.A. resident, emphasizing how Los Angeles and other cities were built for “efficiency” rather than human comfort. The works are paired with compelling research, including the history of redlining and crucial heat-shade statistics, which visitors can interact with and see how their own communities are affected by these factors.

The next room is the present, with bright yellow walls representing the increasing urban heat of a changing climate. The artworks attempt to do the same. For example, Lisa Tomczeszyn’s installation, “Every Bench Deserves a Tree,” consists of two benches beside each other, one with no shade and only a street sign reading “Asphalt Blvd” while the other is shaded by a large tree — with leaves that are actually cutout photos of trees throughout the Deaconso gardens.

Finally, the third gallery room attempts to project a cooler, more verdant future with walls colored a serene green hue. It features works that imagine a future where technology and city planning better respond to environmental stressors, including Pascaline Doucin-Dahlke’s “Suspended Garden.” Like Tomczeszyn’s work in the previous room, this piece is also comprised primarily of benches set underneath umbrellas. In this case however, those umbrella canopies are made of repurposed plant materials.

Artist Pascaline Doucin-Dahlke’s piece “Suspended Garden” at Descanso Gardens.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

One key goal of the exhibit is to help visitors connect to the importance of heat, shade and urban trees. For example, at the very end of the exhibit in the Boddy House, visitors can contribute to a real-world data collection study about how shade shapes their neighborhoods and what shade-heat related fact they find most striking, and are also invited to draw their imagined shade structures for women waiting at bus stops.

“[We] just don’t want to do science and just don’t want to do art. [We] want to create a good intersection that actually engages people,” said Jolly de Guzman.

Yarn Bombing Los Angeles’ installation inside of Boddy House at Descanso Gardens on July 9, 2025.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

“We want to get them through the heartstrings, visually, aesthetically and actively,” added Edith de Guzman. Reflecting on the broader potential for change, she said, “There’s a lot of reasons to despair right now, but if we change our radio frequency a little bit, we can connect to a whole different feeling. We can actually create the city we want, in the neighborhoods that we deserve.”

The exhibition will run from July 12 to Oct. 12, 2025, with a free opening reception on Friday, July 11, from 5 to 7 p.m.