Saturday 5 SEPTEMBER 2009
Situated two miles north-east of the historic market town of Romsey in the county of Hampshire, southern England, the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens (formerly known as the Hillier Arboretum) are named in memory of their founder, the late Sir Harold Hillier (1905-1985), a member of the nursery family.
 "The Secret" asking £3,300 |
"Two's Company" asking £3,800 |
In June 1953, the Hillier family took up residence in Jermyn's House and Sir Harold set about transforming the land around his home into the internationally renowned collection of hardy trees and shrubs there today. In 1977, nearly twenty-five years after the first plantings, Sir Harold gave his plant collection to Hampshire County Council to be held by them as a charitable trust. It is their commitment that has helped to develop the unique collection of some 42,000 plants (12,000 different types) which now thrive in an area of 180 acres.
View from the Tea Rooms
Visitors to the Gardens will find something to interest them throughout the year. Frosty days of January, with the perfume of the witch hazels' strange spidery flowers filtering through the Gardens, gradually change to the flamboyant blooms of the spring flowering camellias, magnolias, rhododendrons and azaleas. These are followed by the heady scents of summer's flowering shrubs and herbaceous plants before the autumn season of fiery hues.
Dandylion Seed in Stainless Steel (£595) |
Real flower, like an orchid |
In 1997 the Gardens were included by English Heritage on the Register of Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England for the value of the plant collections. These collections continue to be enhanced and developed, and now boast the largest Winter Garden of its kind in Europe and the Gurkha Memorial Garden with an extensive collection of Nepalese plants.
Hiding in the bamboo
We were so blessed with the weather when ten of us visited the Gardens on Saturday 5 September - it was bright and sunny all morning. The gardens were playing host to an array of modern art sculptures that were dotted about the lovely gardens, either blending in well with the surrounding flora, or making a stark statement in contrast. It was fascinating to see the different materials and techniques used to create the displays and the sculptures added to our enjoyment as we spotted them amongst the trees and shrubbery.
Ram carved from oak tree trunk (£3,500) |
Ceramic stoneware sheep called "Alice" & "Sandy" (£650 each) |
Dog - Cat - Rabbit in steel and glass (£105 each)
Three of the floosies were riding chariots – Snowdrop Sally on her old faithful, Jonquil Joan (because she didn’t think she would make it all the way round on foot) and Hyacinth Kerria Karen (because she was recovering from a recent knee operation). The latter two were hired at a very reasonable cost and certainly did the trick.
Back row L-R: Jan, Janet, Carolyne, Margaret, Polly, Angeline & June.
Front row, the three chariots, L-R: Joan, Sally & Karen. (£ Priceless)
The gardens are renowned worldwide for their knowledge and care of trees. The grounds are sympathetically laid out and there are paths that take you to a pond, a bog garden, hidden areas only accessible by a rope bridge, water features and much more. Jermyn’s House sits in the middle of the grounds and is usually a welcome stop for refreshments. However, when we visited, the house was closed for a private function. The lawns at the front of the house are immaculate and the borders were spectacular. Even in September there was enough colour to give interest and keep our attention.
Huge spider made of wood
Due to time commitments, we didn’t see all of the Gardens. By lunch time, we had made our way to the large cafe at the entrance and we all enjoyed tea and cakes. We will definitely go again, this time allowing a whole day for a visit and taking a picnic so we can stop and rest in the beautiful surroundings before going on to see the rest of the Gardens.
On the way out loomed this giant steel "Funky Flamingo" (£795) .
All in all, an excellent choice of venue.
Juniper Berry June
Branch Manager
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