There is no finer picture than a garden bursting with the harbingers of a new gardening year: spring bulbs. At Stoke Albany House in rural north Northamptonshire, carpets of daffodils create a gilded frame around much of the garden. Arcing around the main lawn at the back of the house, their show-stopping display dwarfs even the most statuesque, ancient Atlas cedar, Cedrus atlantica, which towers over the garden.
Anna and Fred Vinton bought the Regency mansion in 1979 and set about putting their own stamp on the eight acres of grounds. “I didn’t know much about gardening when we arrived, so I was thrown in at the deep end,” says Anna. “But I was keen to learn and quickly became very interested.” Much of
