Modern ANTIQUITY

Few spectacles in the gardening calendar are as dramatic as the sight of myriad tulips caressed by the slanting sunbeams that pierce the crisp first light of a spring dawn. It is a dazzling vision that unfolds annually in the walled garden at Westbrooke House, when thousands of shimmering tulips stand proud in colour-themed beds amid blue camassias, pink honesty and acid-green euphorbia.

“Planning our annual tulip display is my favourite task of the year,” explains owner Joanne Drew. “Every August, I spend a day sifting through a bulb catalogue, envisaging the different colour combinations.” Planting the bulbs throughout the 30 beds and borders that comprise the walled garden’s flower parterre lasts from November’s first frosts until nigh-on Christmas Day. “With such a high-maintenance garden as ours, you settle into