And just like that, it was summer. When our vocabulary turns all a bit Latin, and botanical nomenclature learned at the plant nursery makes Myosotis of the forget-me-nots and Echniops of the glove thistles. There's Guernsey lilies and grape hyacinths and larkspurs as blue as robin's eggs. Sea lavender and sweet peas and new potatoes that splash about in good olive oil. Gooseberries and fennel and a hoi polloi of herbs: coriander for the salsa, mint for the julep. Cherries and wild garlic, too, bring ruby crumbles and fragrant naans to the supper table. And all this meaning now’s the time to visit those homes with private foraging woodlands, rosemary-scented potagers, wildflower meadows, and apple orchards; and perhaps a rowboat or rope swing for good measure. But best hurry, before the bees and butterflies beat you to it.
Castle Trematonia in Cornwall
Meet the Tamar Valley stronghold that appointed Mother Nature to its board of directors, where Wes Anderson could walk down the hall and no one would bat an eye. From the founders of House of Hackney, this is Castle Trematonia.
The Walled Garden in Somerset
With apple tree walkways, Gothic doorways, waterfalls, a rowboat river, and a Victorian pool, this former potato house sits within the original walled garden of the National Trust's Dyrham Park.
Avalon Manor in Wiltshire
Hidden behind decorous iron gates in the Cotswolds, the gardens of this medieval country manor have water features, topiaries, and plant life of every variety, plus a hot tub and pizza oven for those Italianate evenings.
Aria in Somerset
A Quantocks bunker near The Great Woods, Aria is a zinc-clad cube whose foundations were poured by a Lebanese opera singer. Fitting, since the musical courtyard garden is one of the finest spots in Somerset to hear nature's song.
Hansa in Shropshire
Viscount and Viscountess Newport’s piece of cottagecore real estate welcomes those in a fairy-tale state of mind to 200 private acres of familial Shropshire estate. Think Brothers Grimm meets Alice in Wonderland woodlands.
The Lost Music Hall in Devon
A renovated Arts and Crafts manor turned South Hams staycation (and one of the best kept secrets on the British wedding scene), The Lost Music Hall is made up of orchards, walled gardens, and foliage that creeps up red stone walls.
The Sculptor’s Gardens in Herefordshire
Made up of a longhouse and a cottage on the River Arrow in Eardisland, The Sculptor's Gardens were crafted by an unwitting master topiarist with the sole goal of creating a lost, overgrown garden for his young children.
Botania in Devon
A photographer’s home on Dartmoor, known as the "Secret Garden meets Great Gatsby manor", Botania's lawn had such a life of its own that its owner (a green thumb) came to believe she knew nothing about gardening after all.
Rhapsody in Surrey
At Rhapsody in Surrey — a chic-rock home where Genesis, The Police, and Queen have all performed among the flowerbeds — you’ll live a life of palatial proportions among statues, cypress trees, and a Moroccan pool house.
Feeling inspired? Read about the photographer's "Secret Garden meets Great Gatsby manor", discover the homes with show-stopping private pools, or browse the full collection of secret garden escapes.
