Sir Harold Hillier Gardens

Not many miles from Exbury is another large and famous garden, the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, near Romsey. Hillier, a horticulturalist and nurseryman, gave the gardens to Hampshire County many years ago. Googling "Hillier garden" is an interesting exercise: what comes up mostly are the Hillier Garden Centres, seemingly hundreds of them across the island. If Britain is a nation of gardeners, Hillier and his business are probably one of the main reasons. He was accorded many honors and was even knighted for his contributions to horticulture. The Hillier Gardens seemed to us somewhat smaller and certainly newer than Exbury, but also more devoted to displaying the great variety of plants that are tenable in the UK. As one might expect of a nurseryman, Hillier Gardens was certainly the best-labeled of any garden we can remember, including even some of the great botanical gardens.

Part of a high school class's gift...a wisteria arch
when it's done

Great signage, not only identifying the plants but also offering
tips on growing them...as one might expect

Early in our visit we headed over to the rhododendron/camellia/
magnolia forest across the road

Magnolia bloom

X-wing fighter

But mostly rhododendrons

Not all the camellias gone

Unfound Easter egg under a Buckeye tree; I was hoping for a
sugar hit, but the bugs had gotten into it already

Sir Harold

Giant rhubarb

Swamp cypress liking the bog garden

Very large eucalyptus; among the many tree
specimens

 

Exbury, 2

 More rhododendrons...

Exbury does have some other plants...great pines,
many oaks, plane trees, redwoods, lime, magnolias, and
floral plantings all over...above are the monkey puzzle
trees...but in the spring, it is the rhododendrons that
catch and command your eye

We also like camellias, although by mid-May they're largely
spent here

A contorted old oriental plane tree...the mother tree on the left,
a huge off-shoot on the right

And on the left, a third off-shoot

If you like gardens and come to the UK, this is the one you
have to see...near Southampton...in May

Exbury, 1

Friends Howard and Jenni put us on to Exbury when we asked them about notable gardens in their area apart from the National Trust houses and gardens we normally visit. "Notable" hardly does justice to Exbury, and, apart from the huge national botanical gardens we have visited, it is the best garden we have yet seen. A word or two of explanation are in order. We are rhododendron fans and are happiest in the spring in any of the British gardens that have incorporated them. Lionel Rothschild, the founder of Exbury, was a rhododendron aficionado and fashioned this vast landscape to feature his favorite plants; sparing no expense, too.  Yes, we know that British garden purists don't share our preferences. But we're neither gardeners nor garden connoisseurs; we just know what we like. So prepare to see a whole lot of rhododendrons in this and succeeding posts...in vistas, lanes, trails, rooms, water features, and so on...

Champion trees here and there too