Perennial Favourites

Mazes, volcanos and fountains – or is it the plants and horticulture? We asked our garden experts to tell us what excites them most in their favourite gardens on our tours.

Great Dixter, Sussex – Louisa Allen

Not only is Great Dixter a fabulous garden, it challenges disciplines and is not afraid to experiment. It has excellent sustainability and biodiversity credentials and its managers have a forward-thinking philosophy that is shared generously.

This six-acre garden surrounding a 15th-century manor house in the Sussex Weald, consists of orchards, meadows, ponds, formal and informal borders and a mix of native and exotic planting. It is laid out as a series of rooms cleverly divided by buildings, archways, walls, hedging, topiary and avenues. Dynamic bold planting ensures seasonal interest throughout the year, challenging the norm, and it is both uplifting and inspiring for visitors – a perfect example of progressive gardening.

The garden was made famous by the visionary Christopher Lloyd, who was born at Great Dixter in 1921. The garden Lloyd first knew was commissioned by his parents, Nathaniel and Daisy, and designed by Edwin Lutyens between 1910-12. Traces of it can still be seen – the laid-out York stone pathways, clipped Yew hedging and topiary. In more recent years since Lloyd’s death, the garden has been further developed by Fergus Garrett, his former head gardener.

The approach is to allow plants to follow their full natural habit and season; self-seeders are encouraged and little deadheading is undertaken, allowing seed heads to remain for both visual delight and to encourage wildlife. The result is riotous, dynamic borders overflowing on to well-worn paths and walkways.

After Lloyd’s death, Great Dixter became a trust with the aim to inspire and educate as well as preserve his gardening legacy. An active educational programme takes place offering live-in opportunities for new gardeners, as well as bespoke training days on various subjects.

Strong environmental and sustainability principles underpin the ethos of the garden. The current managers have enhanced the flowering, tapestry-like meadows, as well as championing ‘chaos gardening’ in the use of self-seeders, naturalistic and ever-evolving plant communities inspired by Christopher Lloyd.

Visit Great Dixter on our Great Gardens of Southern England tour from 3–10 June 2026, led by Louisa Allen.

Parco Paternò del Toscano, Sicily – Helena Attlee

Etna’s soils are some of the most fertile in the world, and yet making a garden on a live volcano will always be a risky business. Of all the gardens in Sicily, Parco Paternò del Toscano on Mount Etna is my favourite. Perhaps that’s because I was lucky enough to meet Ettore Paternò years ago, and hear how he came to garden high on the slopes of Europe’s biggest and most active volcano. He was nearly 90 then, but his story began in 1943, when he sold the palace he had inherited in Catania, and bought a remote farm on Etna.

Paternò began by planting profitable citrus groves in the rich, volcanic soil, but he had a passion for plants, and soon he was begging seeds and cuttings from unusual, subtropical species growing in Catania’s botanic garden, and rescuing plants and trees from the gardens of abandoned villas and palaces. At first, he planted these treasures between rows of citrus trees, but before long he was grubbing up oranges and lemons to make space for the garden that now covers four hectares.

Paternò would become one of the most important landscape architects of his day, and he used the garden as his drawing board, the palette where he mixed his colours, and the nursery where he persuaded tender plants to thrive.

By the time of Paternò’s death in 2009, the garden was already descending into gentle chaos. However, Stena Paternò, his granddaughter, was so determined to save the wonderful place she had known as a child that she gave up her job on the mainland and returned to Sicily to restore it.

The ancient, lava-stone terraces of the old farm are now the backdrop to 20 different varieties of palm trees, agaves, yuccas, dasylirions, cycads and much more. Smooth lawns surround the modern house Paternò built at the heart of the site, where the swimming pool reflects Etna’s summit. The garden becomes wilder further down the hillside, where exotic trees and shrubs rub shoulders with typical, Mediterranean plants.

I love the tension that comes from gardening in a place where you never know what might happen next. Will Etna erupt and spread a suffocating layer of ash over those precious plants? Will she send a vicious frost or an over-generous gift of snowmelt rolling down her slopes? Who knows, but that’s the thrill of gardening on a volcano.

Visit the Parco Paternò del Toscano on our Gardens of Sicily tour from 12–18 May 2026, led by Helena Attlee.

Crathes Castle and Dundonnell House & Garden, Scotland – Colin Crosbie

The walled garden at Crathes Castle, south of Aberdeen, should really be described as a garden of gardens, as it is divided into eight distinct rooms with each containing a particular theme. The walls at Crathes have created a uniquely sheltered environment that allows a wide range of plants from all over the world to flourish in this northerly part of the British mainland. The giant yew hedges planted in the early 1700s have developed in some places into incredible, playful architectural structures that delight visitors. One section contains an Arts & Craft style garden created in the 1920s by the Burnett family.

In spite of its historic roots, this is a garden that is not stuck in the past. It has been allowed to develop and evolve. Just recently the rose garden was completely redesigned with the eight beds in the new design cleverly replicating a Burnett rose. Strong design, a wonderful range of colourful themed plantings, and a surprise around every corner make it one of my favourite gardens.

Privately owned Dundonnell House Garden on the West Coast at the end of Little Loch Broom, is one of the hidden gems among Scottish gardens, and one not many get to see (we are honoured). Another walled garden, it sits behind a very modest Highland country house. On walking through the small garden gate, you enter a horticultural masterpiece.

The garden is anchored by wonderful hedges with an ancient yew located at the centre on the main vista. At first glance the garden has the feel of a traditional Victorian garden. However, following the paths through, you find herbaceous borders overflowing with colour and interest which inspire everyone who see them. There is a wonderful kitchen garden that is both aesthetically pleasing and highly productive. Then, in a small garden room surrounded by hedges, you come upon a small pond with a stunning William Pye water feature.

This garden overflows with colour, interest and surprise and you can almost lose yourself in its beauty. It is only when you raise your eyes above the walls and spy the vast mountains beyond that you truly appreciate the uniquely special nature of this Highland paradise in this most harsh and northerly part of the British Isles.

Visit Crathes Castle and Dundonnell House & Garden on our Gardens in the Highlands tour from 24 June–2 July 2026, led by Colin Crosbie.

Venice and Normandy – Amanda Patton

Villa Barbarigo at Valsanzibio, Venice

Created in the 1660s by Gregorio Barbarigo as a pact with God for sparing the remainder of his family from the plague that killed his mother, this garden takes us on an allegorical journey to salvation. A series of spaces is designed to purify our bodies and souls until we reach The Square of Revelations. As someone who loves conceptualism within gardens, this for me is one of the best of the Baroque-era gardens.

The original entrance through the great Diana gate (linked to Venice via the Brenta canal) hints that this is also a hunting estate with many delectable pleasures awaiting – if you pass the tests. I especially love the fiendishly difficult maze, designed around the seven deadly sins and containing six dead ends and one continuous looping path – that’s arrogance for you.

The impressive single main avenue is backed by six-metre-high original box hedging. Barbarigo’s humour remains evident throughout; the still-working giochi d’acqua will still give you a soaking if you step on the wrong stone. These waterworks are reputed to have been designed by Bernini’s brother, Luigi, a water engineer who Barbarigo met in Rome while secretary to Pope Alexander VII.

Jardins d’Etretat, Normandy

It would be difficult to find a garden in a more dramatic setting, sitting as it does high above the chalk ‘needle’ of Etretat, often painted by Monet and the Impressionists. But this is not a traditional garden, though it is very much of its place. Described as neo-futuristic, it evolved from the creative vision of landscape architect Alexandre Grivko to combine art, cutting-edge technologies and ethical values to create an experimental space.

Now listed within “Great Gardens of the World”, the steep cliff-side cascades with large-scale plants that reflect the location. Some are clipped to extraordinary shapes to echo the movement of the ocean, including Phillyrea angustifolia sculpted into wave shapes, whirlpools and vortices, while all are planted to trial resilience in a changing and difficult climate.

Jardin Plume, Normandy

Created within the last 30 years by owners Patrick and Sylvie Quible, Jardin Plume has gained a reputation for its masterful planting which reaches a peak in early September. Inspired by Derek Jarman’s Dungeness garden for its planting and sense of place, and Henk Gerritsen’s garden of Priona, it is a beautiful and tactile garden full of movement and light from the use of grasses and perennials set within a formal French structure.

The success of Jardin Plume is due to its blend of whimsy and formality. For anyone unsure about grasses, I challenge you to have a change of heart after a visit here. There is much to learn from this garden; layer after layer of texture and colour, and above all a playfulness and joy. We never forget this is Patrick and Sylvie’s home and it feels a rare privilege to be allowed in to explore.

Visit Villa Barbarigo at Valsanzbio on our Gardens & Villas of the Veneto tour from 21–27 April 2026 and Jardins d’Etretat and Jardin Plume on our Gardens of Normandy tour from 2–9 September 2026, both led by Amanda Patton.