A day at Kelmarsh Hall

Plant stalls outside Kelmarsh Hall - an exquisite country house.

I've spent most of the day at the Heritage Gardens Event at Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire, an occasion that forms part of the RHS-led National Gardening week. My function was to be part of an RHS Panel of Experts, but as very few of the visitors seemed to need our advice, I had ample opportunity to look round the gardens adjacent to the beautiful house, built of richly-coloured local brick in the 1730s. In the Twentieth Century it was home to Nancy Lancaster, an arbiter and setter of country-house fashion in interiors and gardens and her influence is still visible in the garden. The property is now owned by a trust, which generates revenue by hosting a regular series of events, and Kelmarsh Hall is also a RHS Partner Garden, enabling free access to RHS members at certain times.

An attractive array of pots: using one variety of pansies gives great elegance.

The very productive kitchen garden.

The spacious modern greenhouse being very well used.

 

A splendid display of Fritillaria meleagris lines the drive.