Open Gardens 2026

A look back at Open Gardens day on Sunday 5th July 2026
2026 Open Gardens Poster

About ten gardens across the village opened to visitors on Sunday 5th July 2026 from 11am until 4.30pm, with all proceeds going towards the upkeep of St. Mary's Church. The sun shone, the tea urn worked overtime, and the first-ever Best Garden Photo competition drew a fine crop of entries.

The full write-up is on its way — in the meantime, enjoy this selection of photos from the day.

Around the Gardens

Colourful island beds around a clipped tree

Island beds in full colour

A gravel path between naturalistic borders of grasses and perovskia

A path between billowing borders

The gardens were looking their best for the day, from island beds in full colour to naturalistic borders alive with grasses and perovskia.

In Bloom

Purple foxglove flowers in close-up

Foxgloves

Cream and yellow honeysuckle flowers

Honeysuckle

A single pink dog rose

Dog rose

Shasta daisies at the edge of a lawn

Shasta daisies by the lawn

Blue cornflowers with a bee at work

Cornflowers with a visitor

Yellow and orange California poppies

California poppies

A white cornflower with a purple centre

A cornflower in close-up

White and purple acanthus flower spikes

Acanthus — bear's breeches

Deep red aeonium succulent rosettes catching the light

Aeonium rosettes in the sun

Early July caught the gardens in full flow — foxgloves, cornflowers, honeysuckle and more.

Teas in the Village Hall

A volunteer serving visitors from a table full of homemade cakes

Difficult decisions at the cake table

Volunteers sharing a laugh beside the tea urn

Laughter at the tea urn

Visitors enjoying tea and cake at a table in the Village Hall

Tea, cake and good company

A posy of cornflowers, cosmos and garden flowers on a tea table

Garden posies on every table

A grandfather and toddler at the tables in the Village Hall

Visitors of all ages

The Village Hall did a roaring trade in tea and homemade cakes, with posies of garden flowers on every table.

Around the Village

A volunteer chatting with a visitor and her dog at the car park

Every visitor greeted — dogs included

A smiling visitor in a straw hat at an outdoor table

Lots of great prizes to be won at our raffle

Four visitors sharing refreshments at a table on the grass

Refreshments in the open air

Two smiling visitors in front of a flint wall

Familiar faces

A couple with their dog on a bench beneath tall pink hollyhocks

A rest beneath the hollyhocks

A volunteer named Jackie waving beside Geoff in a sailor cap

Jackie and Geoff

Out and about on the day — a warm welcome at the car park, dogs doing the rounds, and plenty of familiar faces.

Best Garden Photo Competition

A bee gathering pollen on a purple field scabious flower — winner of the Best Garden Photo competition

The winning photo — Bee at work

A bottle of Bollinger champagne on the prize table

The prize for the Best Garden Photo

New for 2026 — the Best Garden Photo competition, with a bottle of champagne waiting for the winner. Entries were taken in the open gardens on the day and judged by a panel of three local judges.

The winner has now been chosen — see the winning photo and the two highly commended entries on the Best Garden Photo 2026 page.