England Garden Tour

Hold on to your bonnets! I am always expanding the distance I will go to host a grand gardening program. So why not England? As many of you know, last July I had the opportunity to travel to England and visit gardens around London while on a national garden writers tour. After experiencing this fantastic ourney, I decided to slightly modify the trip, add other highlights, and with the help of a highly  experienced, professional international tour organizer, Donna Dawson, I am launching my first tour scheduled for July 2 – 10th, 2011. More about me and my credentials is provided at the bottom of this page.

Tour Includes:
• 4-Star Hotel Accommodations for 8 nights
• English breakfast daily
• Three dinners (Welcome dinner in Bury St. Edmunds, Welcome to London dinner and Farewell dinner)
• Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and Show guide
• Entrance to Hampton Court Palace and Privy Garden
• Cambridge Botanic Gardens
• Punt on the River Cam
• Bressingham Gardens
• Book signing and Cream Tea with internationally acclaimed garden designer and writer, Adrian Bloom
• Beth Chatto Gardens
• Sissinghurst Gardens
• Great Dixter House and Gardens
• East Rushton Old Vicarage Gardens
• Afternoon Cream Tea at the famous Essex Rose Tea House
• All entrance fees, coach and driver tips
• Complimentary 30 minute garden and landscape consultation of YOUR garden (from provided photos)
• Special Garden Gift for you
• and Unforgettable Memories

Below is a short profile of the gardens that you will enjoy on this tour, a teaser to get you excited and wanting to join us. A full day by day itinerary will be completed in October but we have also included the registration form so you can send that in if you want to confirm your spot on this limited space available tour now!

July 2, 2011 Arrival into London on your own. Overnight at London Heathrow 4-Star Radisson Edwardian with full English breakfast next morning. This hotel is a short 15 minute ride from the airport. There are hotel hoppa buses at each of the terminals.

July 3 We board our Coach after breakfast for Cambridge Botanical Gardens – the Garden has a collection of over 10,000 labeled plant species in beautifully  landscaped settings, including Rock Garden, Lake, Glasshouses, Winter Garden, Woodland Walk, and nine National Collections. Then a delightful and relaxing Punt on the River Cam and onward to Bury St. Edmunds where we check into the beautiful 4 Star Angel Hotel for the next three nights. Welcome Dinner this evening at the hotel.

July 4 Beth Chatto Gardens – Beth Chatto is one of the most influential living gardeners in Britain who is perhaps best known for her pioneering ecological approach to gardening developed in the 1960s, yet so relevant to gardeners today. Then on to Dedham, John Constable Country. There will be time to visit the village, shop and enjoy an Afternoon Cream Tea at the famous Essex Rose Tea House (owned by Tiptree) that is famous for their preserves.

July 5 Morning free to enjoy Bury St Edmunds, a Britain in Bloom and Bury in Bloom city and so very easy to walk. While you are here why not wander over to the Abbey gardens, just across the street from our hotel. In the afternoon we board the coach to visit the East Rushton Old Vicarage gardens, one of the most remarkable and enjoyable gardens made in recent years. Created by Alan Gray and Graham Robeson, it is a feast of formal design and decorative exuberance.

July 6 Blooms of Bressingham Gardens. The expansive Bressingham gardens cover 17 densely planted acres with over 8,000 varieties. Later in the afternoon we leave for London and check in at the 4-Star Tara Copthorne for the last four nights. Welcome to London Dinner at the hotel.

July 7 Hampton Court Palace Flower Show with show guide. Set on the grounds of the Palace, it is a feast for the eyes and a chance to do some power shopping while checking out gardens. After you have visited the show and desire some quiet time, we have also included entry to the Hampton Court Palace and Privy Garden. Henry VIII?s very favourite palace was Hampton Court. Later that afternoon return by coach to the hotel.

July 8 Day of Leisure in London. Enjoy shopping, strolling, visiting Museums or take in the gorgeous Kew Gardens. We will have plenty of ideas closer to the tour.

July 9 Our last day is perhaps our best for you will visit Sissinghurst, one of the most internationally famous gardens and the final home of Vita Sackville-West. We finish our glorious tour with Great Dixter, the late Christopher Lloyd’s garden in East Sussex, an example of cottage gardening in abundance. Our Farewell Dinner will be at the hotel is make it easier for those leaving on early flights.

July 10 After breakfast you make your way home or perhaps onwards with so many unforgettable memories?.and many new found friends.

Tour Dates and Pricing: July 2nd ? July 10th, 2011.  LAND only ?1635 British Pounds per person sharing (approx. $2,550 US). SINGLE Supplement ?520 British Pounds (approx. $800). Only 5 single rooms available. NOTE Deposit on tour is $500 US with balance due 3 months from tour leaving. Tour is priced in British Pounds You will be notified when to book your air ? tour requires minimum of 30 registrants. When booking air, you want a London return flight.

To Register and for more information: Please click on http://www.gardeningtours.com/PerenniallyYours2011.htm.   If you have questions, please email me (Kerry) at pyours@nycap.rr.com or Donna at donna@icangarden.com.  You can also call me at (518) 885-3471.

Kerry Ann Mendez bio
Kerry Ann Mendez, owner of Perennially Yours in Ballston Spa, NY, is dedicated to teaching people of all ages the art of low-maintenance perennial gardening and landscaping. As a garden consultant, designer, writer, teacher and lecturer, she focuses on time-saving gardening techniques and workhorse plant material as well as organic practices. Over 8,000 people have taken her classes. She has been in many national magazines including Fine Gardening, Garden Gate and Better Homes and Gardens’ Garden Ideas Outdoor Living plus her gardens have been in several published gardening books. She has been a featured guest on HGTV and was the perennial host for Capital News 9?s In The Garden television segment as well as info segments for Channel 13. She is the garden columnist for Life@Home magazine and writes freelance pieces for regional and national magazines. As a presenter for Horticulture magazine?s 2010 national webinar series, her webinars attracted thousands of gardeners from around the country. In July 2010, she was one of four panelists (the only American) at the Adrian?s Bloom?s European Press Day Event in England in conjunction with the Blooms tour. Mendez has conducted 1,000 home garden and landscape consultations in Upstate New York and New England. She is a self-taught gardener with over 25 years of experience and a ?passionate perennialist? that enjoys mixing humor with practical information. Mendez?s first book, The Ultimate Flower Gardener?s Top Ten Lists, was released in March 2010. She is a member of the Perennial Plant Association, national Garden Writers Association, and a federated garden club.