We were blessed with gloriously sunny weather for our summer outing to the Royal Horticultural Society’s premier gardens at Wisley, on Saturday 17 June 2000. Shirt sleeves, sun hats and summer casuals were the order of the day as Members, spouses, offspring and friends started to assembly at 1000 hours for a much needed cup of morning coffee. With effortless ease we commandeered an ever widening circle of tables and chairs on the patio of the cafeteria as our numbers and the bonhomie increased. Link to photos

About half an hour later, with thirty-three assembled, give or take a straggler or two, we set off on a ninety minute stroll through the summer colour in the capable hands of David, our RHS volunteer guide. Stopping every now and then to highlight items of particular interest, David treated us to snippets of background into the development and running of the gardens, their future plans and how the garden’s appearance changes with the seasons. With a potential two hundred and fifty acres to see, this short tour could never do more than give a cursory overview of the garden’s principal features, but it served very well to pinpoint the location of numerous attractions for more leisurely exploration in participants’ own time after lunch that afternoon, or in the future.

A two-course lunch at noon with wine and coffee to follow, rounded off the planned proceedings, after which we had the run of the gardens to follow our own inclinations. There was always the danger, however, that a visit of this nature, to show gardens like Wisley, would give the ladies bright ideas, and so it proved. The luckier amongst us were just allowed to ramble about in our own sweet time, but others less fortunate were promptly taken home to mow the lawn and do some weeding, whilst others were last seen in the RHS plant centre purchasing floribunda adinfinitum for wholesale re-landscaping chez nous. Nevertheless, a delightful day out.

A number of photographs follow, which give an excellent feel of the day.

Link to photos

Derek Ross