As one of the most famous gardens in the world, set in the ruins of a redbrick mansion where Elizabeth 1st stayed in 1573 for an exuberant weekend, Sissinghurst needs little introduction. Juliet Nicolson has known Sissinghurst all her life and her childhood memories of the creators of the garden, her grandparents Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, remain vivid. Racing the length of the Yew Walk, leaping from the top of the Tower steps, helping dig the earth with Harold for his meticulous planting of the Spring Garden and watching Vita as she trained her beloved old roses over hazel hoops helped inform Juliet’s lifelong love of the place.
Last summer, in defiance of every obstacle, Delos, the beautiful garden inspired by Vita and Harold’s love of Greece, finally brought its Mediterranean beauty to the Kentish Weald. This new ‘garden room’ is the realisation of a dream cherished by Juliet’s grandparents, but which was impossible to complete during their own lives due to lack of time and resources. Completed with the dedication of many, including the National Trust, the garden designer Dan Pearson, Head Gardener Troy Scott-Smith, and Sissinghurst’s stellar garden team, Juliet will outline the story of its evolution.
Juliet Nicolson is a highly successful author, journalist and social historian . A House Full of Daughters, a poignant account of the women in the Nicolson family, is perhaps her best known work; though Frostquake, published last year and charting the extraordinary winter of 1962/3, was received with universal acclaim and appears in paperback this week!
This Gardens Trust event, in conjunction with the Kent Gardens Trust, will take place Wednesday, January 19 at 10 am GMT, which is very early, but the recorded version is available almost immediately after and is available for £5 through Eventbrite. Register HERE. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.
