Enjoy a heart-warming visit to snowdrop gardens
Put on your hats, gloves and wellies and head out to enjoy the heart-warming pleasure of National Garden Scheme Snowdrop Gardens this February and March.
Each year the National Garden Scheme starts the garden visiting season with its inspirational Snowdrop and Spring Flower gardens. Hundreds of gardens sprinkled with snowdrops – these delightful harbingers of spring – and wonderful, colour contrasting spring blooms including the bright gold of aconites and soft purple of crocus, open their gates to the public from late January through February and into March.
“After the long, dark winter months, the appearance of these beautiful early spring flowers really lifts the spirits and heralds the start of all the wonderful gardens to come,” says National Garden Scheme Chief Executive, George Plumptre. “Year on year more and more people discover the joys of these late winter/early spring garden visits, many of which are accompanied by tea and cake.”
Eight beautiful gardens open their gates in West Sussex in February and March, as part of this wonderful celebration of the new garden visiting season.
For descriptions and more details about the gardens listed below visit the National Garden Scheme Website
Sunday, February 11: Sandhill Farm House, Rogate GU31 5HU. Refreshments – Home-made teas. Admission Adult: £5 Child: Free. Opening times 12pm to 4pm.
Thursday, February 15: Highdown Gardens, Worthing BN12 6FB. Admission By Donation. Opening times 10am to 4.30pm.
Every Thursday from February 8: The Old Vicarage, Washington RH20 4AS. Book your tickets in advance on the NGS website. Refreshments – Light refreshments. Selfservice light refreshments: Picnics welcome. Admission adult £7, child free. Opening times 10am to 5pm. Also open on other dates in April, May, June, August and by arrangement, see NGS website for details.
Sunday, February 18, and Sunday, March 17: Manor of Dean, Petworth GU28 9AP. Book your tickets in advance on the NGS website or you can just turn up and pay on the day. Refreshments – homemade teas. Admission adult £5, child free. Opening times 2pm to 4pm. This garden opens for by arrangement visits from February 5 to June 14 for groups of 20+.
Sunday, March 17: Denmans Garden, Fontwell BN18 0SU. Pre-booking essential, please contact the garden owner (details within the Owner Info tab on the NGS Website) to book. Refreshments – light refreshments. Admission adult £9, child £7. Opening times11am to 4pm.
Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24: Downs Place, South Harting GU31 5PN. Book your tickets in advance on the NGS Website or you can just turn up and pay on the day. Refreshments – home-made teas and cream teas. Admission adult £5, child free. Opening times 1.30pm to 5.30pm. Also open by arrangement from January 2 for groups of 15+.
Friday, March 29: Judy’s Cottage Garden, Worthing BN13 2AE. Book your tickets in advance on the NGS Website or you can just turn up and pay on the day. Refreshments – home-made teas. Admission adult £5, child free. Opening times 10.30am to 3.30pm.
New for 2024:
Thursday, February 29 and Tuesday, March 5: Crossland Flower Nursery, Walberton BN18 0AX.
A 2-hour all access tour of a fourth generation, awardwinning, sustainably run flower nursery with 3 acres of glasshouses filled to the brim with Sussex grown alstroemeria. There will be an opportunity to purchase flowers at the end of the tour. For this open day you need to pre-book your ticket in advance on the NGS website. Refreshments – tea. Admission adult £10, child free. Opening times 10am to 12pm.
The National Garden Scheme was founded in 1927 by The Queen’s Nursing Institute to raise money for district nurses.
Ever since then it has given annual donations to nursing and health charities totalling over £67 million.
It gives visitors unique, affordable access to over 3,500 exceptional private gardens in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands and raises impressive amounts through admission charges and the sale of tea and cake.
Thanks to the generosity of garden owners, volunteers and visitors we are now the most significant charitable funder of nursing in the UK.
As well as the Queen’s Nursing Institute, our beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and Parkinson’s UK.
The National Garden Scheme doesn’t just open beautiful gardens for charity – we are passionate about the physical and mental health benefits of gardens, too.
We fund projects which promote gardens and gardening as therapy, and in 2016 commissioned The Kings Fund report Gardens and Health Our Gardens and Coronavirus 2020: The importance of gardens and outdoor spaces during lockdown report was published in September 2020.
Visit https://ngs.org.uk for more information about the work of the National Garden Scheme, to search for gardens opening in your area or to find out how to open your own garden.