A sky heavy with thunderous cloud didn't bode well for a Sunday outing but appearances, and weather, can be deceptive.
The village of Northiam near Rye is as typical a Sussex landscape as you're likely to find. Venutre down one of the side streets following the brown and white signs and Great Dixter, one of the UK's best loved gardens, awaits.
The house was extensively re-modelled by Edwin Lutyens and draws students of architecture and design to look around the public rooms. A mixture of antique and commissioned modern furniture sit side by side in rooms showing deft touches of the Arts and Crafts movement. Daschunds are represented at every turn. Why?
The last owner, the late Christopher Lloyd, was a fan of the breed and a collector of all things daschund. If you are lucky you can still see the real thing popping in and out of the garden. For it is the garden that brings most people to Great Dixter.
In a word it is splendid; a joyful riot of colour and shape, of movement and height. Christopher Lloyd's methods and teachings draw horticulture students to this day and it's easy to see why.
Great Dixter tears up the usual rules of garden design. Wandering through the sunken garden an inquisitive blackbird flew over and sat watching his audience, close enough to touch and yet not in the least bothered by human presence. Wandering through the grass meadow is a reminder that so much of this precious habitat is lost from the UK. Orchards of plum trees bearing ripe fruit shout 'this is our season' and jolly tasty they are too.
Planting in each flower bed may seem haphazzard to the uninformed but there is real purpose to the positioning and placement of everything. This is the true skill of what Christopher Lloyd achieved at Great Dixter during his lifetime. As new paths are revealed they beckon, keen to show off the next discovery. There's a wall to scramble up via clever little steps and visitas to see over, under and around. Colour is everywhere, all the more vivid after an earlier heavy downpour. It's a photographer's delight and even for a non-gardener it's a magical place.
As several hours just vanished, there was just time for a cup of tea and a splendidly large piece of victoria sponge sandwich before biding Great Dixter a fond farewell, until next time.
Visit more gardens in Sussex.
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