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Country Life's entirely unofficial Chelsea Flower Show 2025 awards
The RHS's judges give out awards based on strict criteria rather than vibes — and while there's a place for the former, we think the latter is worthwhile too. With that in mind, Country Life's team at the Royal Hospital Chelsea have awarded their own alternative prizes from the 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
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Five best things to see in the Great Pavilion at the Chelsea Flower Show
The show gardens often grab the headlines, but the Great Pavilion at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is always full of wonders. Country Life's gardens editor Tiffany Daneff picks out five of her favourite things from inside the marquee at the world's greatest flower show.
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Hampnett House: A Gloucestershire garden where an empty, squelchy lawn has been replaced by 'gorgeous flowery generosity'
What to do if you inherit a garden that isn’t your style? Tiffany Daneff visits the garden at Hampnett House, Gloucestershire — home of Mr Sanjeev Shah and Ms Mansi Amin — and finds a space that has undergone a major transformation, from high-concept minimalism to flower-filled paradise. Photographs by Britt Willoughby Dyer.
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'Nowadays, you can barely throw a heavy brick without it hitting a garden designer’: The renaissance of the country garden
Tiffany Daneff looks at how the English country house garden has been rescued from its thorny slumbers over the last 50 years.
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Evenley Wood Garden: 'I didn't know a daffodil from a daisy! But being middle-aged, ignorant and obstinate, I persisted'
When Nicola Taylor took on her plantsman father’s flower-filled woodland, she knew more about horses than trees, but, as Tiffany Daneff discovers, that hasn’t stopped her from making a great success of the garden. Photographs by Clive Nichols.
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How to make a gloomy city garden into a haven of colour and nature
Tiffany Daneff discovers how to transform a typically dark London back garden into a light-filled green haven that is always in use. Photographs by Clive Nichols.
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'I followed a lorry for miles just so I could ask the driver if I could buy his pot': How Beth Tarling put together her dream terracotta pot collection
Ordinary terracotta flowerpots have been made in their millions and yet, as collector Beth Tarling tells Tiffany Daneff, there is very little on record about them. Photographs by Mark Bolton.
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Totally tropical Tresco: The English country garden that brings the tropics to the British Isles
A warm reception awaits visitors to Tresco Abbey Garden — the home of Robert and Lucy Dorrien-Smith — where the year-round temperate climate has created an extraordinarily colourful garden–even in winter. Tiffany Daneff reports, with photography by Clive Nichols.
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The special magic of a frozen garden in winter
Waking up to discover the garden transformed by a short, sharp hoar frost is a magical experience. Tiffany Daneff looks at how to make the most of it, and shares five of the best to visit over the holiday period.
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Alan Titchmarsh's garden: No insecticides, no herbicides, just beautiful flowers, lawns, a statue of Repton and a swing seat that's impossible to resist
It’s always fascinating to see what a high-profile gardening personality does with their own home. Tiffany Daneff visits Alan Titchmarsh’s Hampshire garden, to find a place of endless delights and charm. Photographs by Jonathan Buckley.
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The Cotswolds garden that's cleverly designed to defy the worst of the elements
Coates Barn in Warwickshire — home of the Sonneborn family — presented a challenge: how to lay out this exposed north-Cotswold site so as to protect new planting from the elements, and simultaneously provide a garden that three generations of residents could enjoy. Tiffany Daneff explains how they did it; photographs by Britt Willoughby Dyer.
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The Grove at Narberth, hotel review: A perfect country house escape in rural west Pembrokeshire
The Grove at Narberth, is that rare thing — a hotel that makes you feel at home. Tiffany Daneff finds out how.
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The Artist Residence, Penzance, hotel review: Boutique luxury in the heart of Cornwall
The attention to detail at The Artist Residence, Penzance, is second-to-none, says Tiffany Daneff — on a trip to to very tip of Cornwall.
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The garden at the Old Rectory, Preston Capes: Happily ever after
Reinstating the view was central to the remaking of the garden at the Old Rectory at Preston Capes, Northamptonshire. Tiffany Daneff reports from an unusual site that surrounds the local church.
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The Legacy: David Austin's English roses
Tiffany Daneff pays tribute to David Austin, the man whose name remains synonymous with roses even five years after his death.
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'This is, after all, the last remaining wonder of the ancient world' — One writer's pilgrimage to the Egyptian pyramids
Egypt's ancient masonry structures have long been on Country Life's Tiffany Daneff bucket list, but it took the opening of the new Waldorf Astoria hotel and a promised peek at the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum to get her there.
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'I could buy ready-to-go evergreens and hurry up the process, but I’m not in a hurry' — why gardeners, like plants, should move slowly
Shrubs, grasses, mess and dead leaves are nothing to be feared. We should take a leaf from Piet Oudolf and enjoy watching things grow and decay.
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'A haunt of ancient peace' — The gardens at Iford Manor and their remarkable history
In a home that can trace its history to the Norman Conquest, owners William and Marianne Cartwright-Hignett have continued the great work begun by Harold Peto in 1899.
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The RHS: 220 years of horticultural genius
The RHS is best-known for its shows and gardens but it's the work behind the scenes which has made the biggest mark. Tiffany Daneff pays tribute to a remarkable institution as it reaches a major milestone.
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When it comes to designing and making a garden, it's always worth seeking advice
What might be difficult for you will come naturally to those with years of horticultural experience — Don't be afraid to ask for help.
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The world's most beautiful opera house foyer? A tour of the glorious gardens of Glyndebourne
As Glyndebourne celebrates its 90th anniversary, the gardens at the opera house are still hitting all the high notes.
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After a long winter, it's time to get out and start preparing for spring
Gardens Editor Tiffany Danneff shares her top suggestions for new plants and seeds this growing season.
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The walled garden at Whithurst Park — and the owners who made it from scratch
Growing your own is one thing, but at Whithurst Park in West Sussex, fruit and vegetables aren't the only thing rising fresh from the ground.
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How Morton Hall's owner has reinvented the art of clematis training
Tiffany Daneff visits Morton Hall in Worcestershire to discover the secret of its owner’s new clematis-training technique. Photographs by Clive Nichols.
