METROLAND Spring 2022

lovely fragrant white flowers. This year the spring
bedding scheme on the Parterre is inspired by
the colours of the peacock using deep blues and
violets polyanthus with lines of white daffodils in
beds of lime greens and golds.
In the Walled Garden and orchard, the apple, pear
and cherry trees will be blossoming from April-May
with the daffodil ‘February Gold’ providing early
spring interest.
Take a walk beyond the Grade I Listed gardens
at Cliveden and you’ll find yourself surrounded in
a woodland escarpment. There are self-guided
walks taking you on a journey of cowslips, snowy
wood anemones and dog violets. Leaflets can be
collected from the Information Centre and are free
of charge, usual admission to the estate applies.
The Vyne (near Basingstoke)
There are occasional spring flowering shrubs and
trees such as forsythia, lilacs, mimosa and the
Judas trees to catch the eye whilst wandering
around the gardens.
Cliveden (near Maidenhead)
Every spring the gardens at Cliveden are a delight
to behold, and this year is no exception. The
six-acre Parterre bursts at the seams with over
30,000 spring bedding plants and bulbs filling the
16 central triangular beds. Among them, scented
wallflowers, pansies, and the delicate heirloom
Narcissus Actea. These elegant bulbs should give
several weeks of flower with their white petals and
stunning yellow centre edged red.
In the Long Garden, 11,000 Polyanthus Piano
Daffodil mix will create a carpet of colour inside
the box hedging, whilst topiary, statuary and
herbaceous borders line the outside of this unique
and unusual garden.
In the oriental inspired Water Garden, the dusky
pinks of flowering blossom and creamy-white
magnolias form picture perfect reflections in the
lakes below. From May there’ll be 2,000 pale blue
Camassia in bloom, adding more glamour to this
already gorgeous garden.
The Vyne’s spacious gardens are a glorious place to
be on a sunny March day. Daffodils litter the south
drive beside the mansion. Hundreds of them line
the path through the historic walled garden too.
You’ll also find fresh bunches for sale there - in the
little wooden kiosk by its entrance. Further afield,
daffodils cluster beside The Vyne’s magnificent
lake, and in the wild garden they bloom in the grass
beneath bird cherry trees.
In April, the formal planting in The Vyne’s
summerhouse garden reveals a pretty mix of
pastel-pink and lilac Virginia stocks, and striking
orange crown imperials. A little further on, the large
114 METROLAND SPRING 2022