Renowned for their deep love of nature , as represented by the world-famous garden they created and their poignant writing , Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson ’ s domestic interiors are filled with floral and natural influence . Sissinghurst ’ s newest exhibition ; Nature Indoors at Sissinghurst : ‘ A flowerless room is a soulless room ’ will lead visitors on an intriguing journey of discovery , experiencing the beauty of objects and artworks inspired by flowers , plants , trees , fruit and animals ; exploring their global origins and significance at Sissinghurst .

Over 50 objects will be on display , including :

Over time several pieces had become detached creating gaps in the middle of the trellis and surrounding hanging fruits . The pair of jade ornaments , thought to have been created in the nineteenth century , most likely in China , needed careful restoration . With no images of the ornament in its original state , conservator Felicity Bolton turned private detective to identify which piece went where in order to restore the pieces to their former glory . The delicate structures depict fruit , flowers and figures supported by a wooden trellis with glorious materials including jade , coral and precious stones such as amethyst and beryl .

FELICITY BOLTON IN ACTION

© Emma Schmuecker

• Newly-conserved jade ornaments thought to have been gifted to Vita by her mother , which have never been on display up-close before .

• Several objects from Vita ’ s writing room in the tower , which is currently closed for building conservation .

• A rare eighteenth-century book by John Evelyn .

Wallpaper from Little Greene ’ s National Trustinspired collection will serve as a backdrop .

Conservator turned private detective

The new exhibition will include a section dedicated to two Ornamental Gardens that have undergone over 70 hours of conservation in the National Trust ’ s Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio .

As part of the painstaking restoration , a range of wet and dry historic restorative cleaning methods were incorporated by Felicity to develop the best treatments for the pieces . This including using soft brushes and low suction vacuuming , mild solvents such as alcohols / deionised water and a non-ionic detergent to clean the inorganic materials , and mechanical cleaning with small pieces of Groomstick™ , a kneadable natural rubber and dry sponges for the materials sensitive to moisture .

Felicity , the conservator in the Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio who worked on the Ornamental Gardens , said “ This has been one of my favourite projects to work on . There was very little information to go on in terms of deciding where to reattach the

fallen pieces and which types of treatment the gardens would respond to best .

“ The detective work involved in solving these mysteries added an extra challenge , but with the help of the curatorial team at Sissinghurst and within the Trust I ’ m happy with the outcome . It ’ s really exciting that visitors will get to see the newlyconserved ornaments for themselves in this new exhibition .”

Nature Indoors at Sissinghurst : ‘ A flowerless room is a soulless room ’ will be open daily during April and is free to enjoy with admission to Sissinghurst .