Five stunning gardens to visit in June from Blackbird Cottage
If there is one month in the year that was made for visiting gardens, it is June.
The Chelsea Flower Show is done, the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival is just beginning and the gardens of the South West are at their most extravagant, their most colourful and above all their most rose-scented.
June is the month of roses. Old roses, climbing roses, rambling roses tumbling over ancient walls, rose gardens in full and glorious peak. If you have ever wanted to understand what all the fuss is about, a June afternoon in a great English garden will tell you everything you need to know.
From Blackbird Cottage in the heart of Beaminster, five of the finest gardens in Dorset and Somerset are within easy reach — and each one is at its absolute best this month.
1. Mapperton Gardens · 10 minutes from Blackbird Cottage
Address: Mapperton, Beaminster DT8 3NR
Opening times: Gardens open daily March to October, 10am–5pm
Dogs: Permitted in the gardens & café on short leads but not in the house or wildlands
There is something about Mapperton that stops you in your tracks the moment you see it.
The house a beautiful Grade I listed manor, voted Historic Houses’ Garden of the Year 2020 sits above a series of Italianate terraces that descend steeply into a wooded valley below. It is one of the most dramatic and beautiful garden settings in England, and in June, when the herbaceous borders are at their peak and the roses are in full bloom, it is quite breathtaking.
The upper garden features formal topiary and a magnificent fountain courtyard. Below, the terraces open onto a wild garden with ornamental fishponds, ancient trees and the most wonderful sense of discovery as if you have found something that wasn’t meant to be found.
In June the roses at Mapperton are outstanding climbing over old stone walls and trailing through the borders in a way that feels entirely uncontrived. This is a garden that looks as though it has always been exactly as it is, which is the highest compliment you can pay.
At just ten minutes from Blackbird Cottage, Mapperton is the easiest garden morning you will ever organise. Go early, before the coaches arrive, and take the camera.
Insider tip: Mapperton is also one of the finest wedding venues in Dorset if you’re attending a wedding here, Blackbird Cottage is just ten minutes away. 🌿
2. Parnham Park · 5 minutes from Blackbird Cottage
Address: Parnham Park, Beaminster DT8 3LZ
Opening: Check website for garden open days and access details
Dogs: Welcome on leads in the garden & parkland
Just five minutes from the cottage, Parnham Park is one of the most beautiful historic estates in West Dorset a stunning 140-acre Grade II listed landscape park surrounding the magnificent Parnham House, a Tudor manor with Elizabethan and later additions.
The grounds at Parnham are spectacular in June ancient parkland with magnificent mature trees, long grass meadows full of wildflowers, a beautiful walled garden and the kind of deep, unhurried green that only comes from centuries of careful stewardship. The deer that graze in the parkland in the evenings are one of those Parnham moments that guests at Blackbird Cottage never quite forget.
Parnham Park Restaurant listed in the Michelin Guide sits within the estate and serves seasonal sharing plates in a beautiful walled garden dining room. A morning walk through the parkland followed by lunch at the restaurant is one of our very favourite things to suggest to guests in June.
Check the Parnham Park website for details of garden open days and access throughout the season.
3. Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens · 35 minutes from Blackbird Cottage
Address: Bullers Way, Abbotsbury, Weymouth DT3 4LA
Opening times: Open daily 10am–5pm (last entry 4pm)
Admission: Adults £15 · Children 5–15 £7.50
Dogs: Welcome on short leads throughout
Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens is unlike any other garden in England — and in June it is at its most extraordinary.
Established in 1765 by the first Countess of Ilchester, this 30-acre Grade I listed woodland valley garden sits in its own microclimate less than a mile from the sea — warmer in winter, cooler in summer — and has been developed over more than 250 years into one of the greatest collections of rare and exotic plants in the country.
June brings a spectacular display of Mediterranean and subtropical planting — agapanthus, echiums, salvias and tender perennials alongside the more formal plantings in the charming walled garden. The roses at Abbotsbury in June are magnificent, climbing over ancient walls and filling the walled garden with scent on a warm afternoon.
The woodland valley walk takes you deep into the garden’s most mysterious and beautiful areas tree ferns, giant gunnera and planting that feels genuinely tropical in the warmth of a June afternoon. At the top of the magnolia walk, the viewpoint looks out over Chesil Beach and the Jurassic Coast one of the finest views in Dorset.
One of the longest rope bridges in the UK has arrived at Abbotsbury, spanning 36 metres across the gardens’ largest pond an exciting new addition that children (and adults) will love.
The café, gift shop and plant centre are all excellent and a passport ticket covering both the gardens and the nearby Abbotsbury Swannery is outstanding value for a full day out.
Getting there: Follow the B3157 coast road toward Abbotsbury. Free parking on site. Postcode DT3 4LA. 🌊
4. Athelhampton House & Gardens · 35 minutes from Blackbird Cottage
Address: Athelhampton House, Athelhampton, Dorchester DT2 7LG
Opening times: Open daily 10am–5pm (last entry 4pm)
Admission: Adults £14.50 · Children under 16 £3
Dogs: Welcome on leads (£1 per dog)
Athelhampton is one of the great architectural gardens of England and June, when the rose garden is at its peak and the famous herbaceous borders are in full summer colour, is the finest month to visit.
The house itself a magnificent 15th century Tudor manor, one of the finest in England, mentioned in the Domesday Book is surrounded by five acres of Grade I listed formal gardens designed in 1891 in the Arts and Crafts style by Francis Inigo Thomas. The result is a series of garden rooms, each walled and each distinct, connected by vistas and unexpected transitions that make exploring them feel like an adventure rather than a walk.
At the heart of the garden, the Great Court is dominated by twelve giant yew topiary pyramids one of the most dramatic garden spaces in Dorset. Beyond it, the rose garden leads into the Edwardian kitchen garden where vegetables and herbs are grown for the on-site restaurant. The River Piddle flows along the boundary of the garden, with a boardwalk along its banks.
In June the roses, clematis and lilies are at their most spectacular and the herbaceous borders, inspired by Gertrude Jekyll, are in full glorious peak.
The house is open daily with guided tours included with admission the Great Hall with its original hammer-beam roof and heraldic stained glass is not to be missed.
Getting there: Follow the A35 east from Dorchester toward Puddletown. Well signed from the A35 (postcode DT2 7LG).
5. East Lambrook Manor Gardens · 45 minutes from blackbird cottage
Address: East Lambrook Manor, South Petherton, Somerset TA13 5HH
Opening times: Open April to September, Wednesday to Sunday, 10am–5pm. RHS members free on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Admission: Adults £8.50 · Children under 16 free · Dogs welcome on short leads
Dogs: Welcome on short leads (one handler per dog)
East Lambrook Manor is not the grandest garden on this list. It is not the most dramatic. But it may well be the most loved — and in June, when the roses and geraniums are in full bloom, it is the most quietly perfect.
This is the quintessential English cottage garden, created by celebrated plantswoman and gardening writer Margery Fish between 1938 and 1969. Her talent for combining old-fashioned and contemporary plants in a relaxed and informal manner created a unique garden of great beauty and charm.
The garden is well worth a visit especially in May and June when it is at its most sublime. The roses — old roses, species roses, climbing roses tumbling over ancient stone walls — are the stars of the June garden here. Combined with the National Collection of Hardy Geraniums in full flower and the densely planted borders that made Margery Fish’s style so influential, it is a garden that feels simultaneously completely wild and completely considered.
Margery Fish changed how people garden. She championed naturalistic planting and practical, low-maintenance design — her ideas shaped the modern cottage garden and still guide gardeners today. Walking through East Lambrook in June is to understand, in the most direct and beautiful way, why.
The specialist plant nursery is outstanding — one of the finest collections of cottage garden plants in the country and dangerous to visit if you have a garden at home and a car with boot space.
Getting there: Follow the A303 to South Petherton, then brown tourist signs. Follow brown signs from the A303 South Petherton roundabout or B3165 crossroads (postcode TA13 5HH).
You must be logged in to post a comment.