Snowdrop gardens full of winter joy opening in Essex this February

Photo Val Corbett

In 2023, the National Garden Scheme set a new record by donating over £3,400,000 to the charity’s beneficiaries which include Marie Curie, Macmillan Cancer Support, Hospice UK, Carers Trust, The Queen’s Nursing Institute and Parkinson’s UK. Essex garden owners and garden visitors played no small part in this by raising just under £170,000, also a record amount.

Garden visiting continues to be an enjoyable and inexpensive day out for the family, with children usually going free. In 2024, 86 glorious gardens will open to visitors with 20 of them new. The garden visiting season starts with great excitement, in February, with five special snowdrop openings:

The first to open is Dragons in Boyton Cross, Chelmsford, CM1 4LS. This is eagerly anticipated every year for its displays of snowdrops, hellebores and other exquisite winter plants which really shine out at this time of year. It is also popular for the sales of some of the more unusual snowdrop varieties.

Opening Wednesday 14 February (11am to 3pm). Admission for adults £5, children free. Refreshments available. Visits also by arrangement 7 February to 15 October for groups of 10 +.

Fans of the gardens at Ulting Wick, Crouchmans Farm Road, Ulting, Maldon, CM9 6QX will be interested to visit in February and March – a first for Philippa Burrough who normally opens her gardens later in the year for tulips and later summer flowers. Philippa started developing areas of snowdrops during the lockdown and now has them in beds near the house as well as drifts in the woodland area. These are joined by early flowering narcissus and increasingly by larger swathes of daffodils which cover the banks around the lake.

Pre-booking is essential for the openings on Friday 16 Feb and Wednesday 27 March (11.30am to 2pm). Admission £15, please visit http://www.ngs.org.uk for information and booking.

Homemade soup and rolls will be offered as well as homemade cakes. Visits also by arrangement 12 Feb to 1 Oct for groups of 15 to 50.

The snowdrop opening at Horkesley Hall Vinesse Road, Little Horkesley, Colchester, CO6 4DB is on Saturday 17 February. New this year is a talk by snowdrop specialist, Chris Wiley of Sow Successful, starting at 11.30am (visitors please bring their own mugs for coffee!) and the gardens will open between 1.00 and 4.30pm. Visitors can walk around the eight acres of magical parkland at their leisure, taking in the developing snowdrop collection, views across the lake and important collection of mature trees. Admission for adults £6, children free.

Ticket for snowdrop talk £5. Light refreshments of soups, home-made cakes, sausage rolls and hot drinks will be served in St Peter and St Paul’s Church and snowdrops will be available to purchase. Visits also by arrangement for groups of 10 to 20.

Opening on two consecutive Sundays, 18 and 25 February, the garden at Grove Lodge 3 Chater’s Hill, Saffron Walden, CB10 2AB manages to create a secluded early spring woodland in the centre of this market town. The spread of snowdrops and winter aconites has been steadily increasing over the last few years and is a joy to see. Open between 2 and 5pm with admission for adults £6, children free. Homemade teas served in the conservatory. Group visits also by arrangement from 2 January to 20 December.

Brookfield, Church Road, Boreham, CM3 3EB . Visitors who are used to seeing the three and a half acres of garden and meadow covered in summer perennials, roses and wild flowers will find a much quieter but no less impressive covering of snowdrops, aconites and crocus on Sunday 25 February, (11am to 4pm). Admission for adults £5, children free. Homemade tea and cake will be served in the conservatory with views across the garden.

Four of the gardens mentioned above also offer private group visits, by arrangement with the garden owners. Visit the National Garden Scheme website ngs.org.uk for more details. Checking the website for any last-minute changes is also recommended before setting out.

Photographs can be accessed here: Essex Snowdrop Gardens 2024 (smugmug.com)

About the National Garden Scheme

The National Garden Scheme gives visitors unique, affordable access to over 3,500 exceptional private gardens and raises impressive amounts of money for nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and cake.

Thanks to the generosity of garden owners, volunteers and visitors we have donated over £70million to nursing and health charities. Founded in 1927 to support district nurses, we are now the most significant charitable funder of nursing in the UK and our beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and The Queen’s Nursing Institute.

The National Garden Scheme doesn’t just open beautiful gardens for charity – we are passionate about the physical and mental health benefits of gardens too. We fund projects which promote gardens and gardening as therapy, and in 2017, we launched our annual Gardens and Health Week to raise awareness of the topic.

To find your perfect garden, visit ngs.org.uk, download the National Garden Scheme app or purchase the National Garden Scheme’s Garden Visitor’s Handbook, which is published annually and available via http://www.ngs.org.uk/shop and at all good book retailers.

Registered Charity 1112664 www.ngs.org.uk

For more information contact Debbie Thomson, Publicity Coordinator for the National Garden Scheme in Essex Debbie.thomson@ngs.org.uk 07759 226579