GENERAL INTEREST
32
South East
Mottisfont , Hampshire
Mottisfont ’ s winter garden has matured into a beautiful and unique landscape , full of horticultural treasures . Stroll along paths through winterflowering shrubs and both late- and early flowering perennials , rich in colour and scent . Brilliantly coloured dogwood bark and silvery ornamental bramble provide splashes of colour alongside berries and fruit even on the shortest days of the year . Gullies of foliage appear to wind through the banks of willow like water and spill into the stream . As winter continues , the garden becomes a refuge for other late flowering shrubs such as mahonia , sweet-smelling winter honeysuckle and daphne . www . nationaltrust . org . uk / mottisfont
Ham House , Surrey
Discover frosty topiary in the formal Cherry Garden glistening in the winter sun . Then take a crisp winter walk across the Ham House estate to the mazelike Wilderness . Part of the original 17th-century garden , the Wilderness has 16 compartments to explore and is transformed into a winter wonderland during the cold months . Finish your tour with a stop at the Kitchen Garden and discover the vegetables and herbs still available at this time of year . www . nationaltrust . org . uk / ham-house-and-garden
Osterley Park and House , Middlesex
Meander through the ever-evolving Winter Garden at Osterley which provides bursts of coloured bark , fabulous leaf shapes and seed heads in abundance during the winter months . Covered in a thick haw frost , every branch and berry is defined . A highlight at this time of year is the Clematis Urophylla ‘ Winter Beauty ’. Its delicately fragrant , waxy , white bell-shaped flowers shoot through lush green foliage even in the depths of winter . www . nationaltrust . org . uk / osterley-park-and-house
Midlands
Biddulph Grange Garden , Staffordshire
Biddulph Grange is one of the most exciting survivals of the great age of Victorian gardening . The garden was the vision of one man , James Bateman , who from 1841 spent more than twenty years collecting plants from all over the world . The plants and trees were brought together at Biddulph amid rock-work , topiary , tree-stumps and an extraordinary collection of eclectic garden buildings designed by Bateman and Edward Cooke . Take a stroll through the Pinetum during the winter months where the path weaves its way between conifers , hollies , yews and monkey puzzle trees , which look especially enchanting with a frosting of snow . www . nationaltrust . org . uk / biddulph-grange-garden