Elizabethan gardens blossom in the sun

The Elizabethan Parham House & Gardens (www.parhaminsussex.co.uk) celebrated its 21st Annual Garden Weekend over the weekend of the 12-13th July and invited two well known TV gardening presenters to open each of the two days of the weekend.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Jul 2014, 07:00 BST
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On the Saturday, Joe Swift, a regular presenter on BBC2’s Gardeners’ World for the past 16 years and an award-winning garden designer and writer, joined Lady Emma Barnard, chatelaine of Parham, to officially open the weekend.

Commented Joe, “This is my first time ever at Parham and I had the honour of cutting the ribbon on the garden weekend which was a real honour. And I have to say I’m just amazed by the gardens here, I really am impressed. I didn’t quite know it was here, it’s a real gem. But what really impresses me is the range of gardens and the range of plants and the depth of horticulture that is going on here, there’s some serious gardening and everyone seems to just be having a fantastic day out, which is what it’s all about.”

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On the Sunday, Christine Walkden, the resident gardening expert on BBC1’s ‘The One Show’; ‘cut the ribbon’ to open the day to visitors and was available to answer questions and give advice. Commented Christine, “Parham House and Gardens are achieving such a high standard of gardening it would be a great shame not to take the opportunity of visiting when in the locality. Great borders, lots of colour, friendly people, a great sales area and super tea and cakes. What more could you possibly want or need?!”

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Lady Emma Barnard, who is celebrating 21 years as ‘chatelaine’ of Parham this year commented, “With the added bonus of Joe and Christine in attendance, it was another really great weekend for garden enthusiasts and families alike.

Everything looked superb and my thanks go out to our Head Gardener, Tom Brown, his team and our garden volunteers, who work tirelessly to ensure that everything looks its very best for this popular event. The garden shop was as popular as ever and our cream tea sales hit a new peak! We look forward to seeing everyone at our next event this summer, the Grow Your Own Festival on Sunday 17th August which is being attended by Frances Quinn, last year’s winner of the ‘Great British Bake-off’ and BBC Radio 4’s Pippa Greenwood from Gardeners’ World.

Related topics:Gardens