PAUL ZIMMERMAN: The English Rose

19 June 2022

8 days from £3,995pp

If you love the perfume of roses on an early summer’s day and have always promised yourself time to discover more of this vast and varied genus, then this is the tour for you.

Visit to the famous Rose garden at Mottisfont featuring the National Collection of old-fashioned roses started by Graham Stuart Thomas
Special early bird morning visit to Sissinghurst Castle Garden accompanied by the Head Gardener
Visit the private garden of Clinton Lodge
Visit the enchanting garden of Kiftsgate Court, home of the famous rambler, Rosa filipes ‘Kiftsgate’
Visit Hidcote Manor Gardens with time to stroll around and discover many roses throughout the famous gardens
A day at David Austin Roses for a ‘behind the scenes’ tour with Michael Marriott

Paul Zimmerman: The English Rose

This tour is a celebration of the rose, doyenne of the English Garden. If you love the perfume of roses on an early summer’s day and have always promised yourself time to discover more of this vast and varied genus, then this is the tour for you. We start in southern England on a gentle journey to enjoy roses in some wonderful gardens, featuring Sissinghurst, Mottisfont and Pashley Manor as well as a selection of exceptional private gardens. Then journey north to the rural county of Shropshire on the Welsh borders to visit the outstanding David Austin show garden collection as well as a ‘behind the scenes’, private view of David Austin’s own garden. Also featured are Coughton Court and Wollerton Old Hall plus a visit to Michael Marriott’s own new garden and an opportunity to meet Katherine Swift, author of The Morville Hours, a story of her garden. Don your rose-tinted specs and see gardens in a new light. Stroll from rose to rose discussing the merits of under-planting, mulching, pruning, budding, training, and indeed even the name of the rose in the company of a great rose enthusiast & expert Paul Zimmerman with guest appearances from Michael Marriott, Rosarian at David Austin Roses and Charles Quest-Ritson, author of RHS Encyclopaedia of Roses (Dorling Kindersley, 2011).

The tour starts at The Mercure Winchester Wessex Hotel with one transfer organized from London Heathrow and London Gatwick airports and ends at the Heathrow Sofitel. In addition to these two conveniently sited hotels, you will stay at Ockenden Manor Hotel, a charming and tranquil Elizabethan Manor House with an adjoining luxurious spa and pool, while further north we stay at the award-winning Brockencote Hall - an outstanding example of a country house hotel in magnificent grounds. Both tour hotels offer exceptional comfort and hospitality with delicious breakfasts and dinners with wine included.

Tour Starts: Sunday 19th June

The tour starts with a rendezvous and welcome drink at The Winchester Wessex Hotel in Hampshire at 18:00hrs where we include the overnight accommodation on a dinner, bed & breakfast basis. A coach will make one pick up at Gatwick Airport and at Heathrow Airport (Terminals to be confirmed) before driving to Winchester arriving at approximately 15:00hrs.

Day 1:
Leaving Winchester, we have arranged an early visit to the famous Rose Garden at Mottisfont featuring the National Collection of old-fashioned roses started by Graham Stuart Thomas who did much to enhance our understanding of roses. You will be met in the walled garden for an introduction to this important collection but also have time to wander independently. At Redenham Park a rich tapestry of planting with roses is woven throughout – not only in the designated rose garden but also in the cutting borders, or elsewhere trained up walls and through the fruit trees; roses are even reflected in the swimming pool. Lady Clark generously welcomes us to her garden with an invitation to a delicious lunch. Then journey across country to Ockenden Manor with time to settle in before an evening meal together.
Day 2:
Start the day at the private garden of Clinton Lodge where we are invited by owner Lady Collum, to view her garden followed by a delicious light lunch. Lady Collum has a deep knowledge and quiet passion for her wonderful compartmentalised garden surrounding an early 17th century house with unforgettable herbaceous borders, fragrant herb garden, green knot terrace, and scented shady glade all interwoven with roses. In the afternoon head for Brighton with time for a stroll along the sea front or along the pier of this fashionable seaside resort. Take yourself to the shops or visit the exotic Brighton Pavillion. Return to Ockenden Manor where we dine together where you are joined by guest lecturer, Charles Quest-Ritson who will give a pre-dinner rose themed talk.
Day 3:
Following an early breakfast depart at 08:15AM for a special early-bird morning visit to Sissinghurst Castle Garden. We will particularly concentrate on the roses in the White Garden and Rose Garden created in the 1930s by the poet and garden writer Vita Sackville-West and her husband, author and diplomat, Harold Nicolson. Sissinghurst is one of the most famous and influential of our 20th century gardens in which use of roses is a key feature. We travel the short distance from Sissinghurst to Pashley Manor where we shall enjoy lunch before a guided tour. In Britain we have two great rose breeders and suppliers: Michael Marriott has spent his career working with David Austin Roses; here at Pashley the roses have all come from Peter Beales Roses. This should be an interesting visit. Much is made of the rose in this beautiful garden: colour-themed in the rose garden and elsewhere, interplanted with cream foxgloves, lilies, and lavenders. Return to Ockenden Manor where we dine together.
Day 4:
Leaving Sussex, journey northwards via the Cotswolds to visit the enchanting garden of Kiftsgate Court, home of the famous rambler, Rosa filipes ‘Kiftsgate’ as special guests of owners, Mr & Mrs Chambers you will be shown the garden before having lunch together. In the afternoon visit another classic British garden, Hidcote Manor Gardens with time to stroll around and discover many roses throughout the famous gardens from the white garden to the hot borders. Continuing northwards to Brockencote Manor Hotel with time to settle in before dining together.
Day 5:
A day at David Austin Roses for a ‘behind the scenes’ tour with Michael Marriott, including a private view of David Austin’s own garden, a rose hybridizing class and lunch at a lovely local pub. Then travel across country to visit Coughton Court, home of the Throckmortons, presented with the Award of Garden Excellence by the World Federation of Rose Societies. Enjoy a guided tour of the gardens boasting over 75 different varieties of roses beautifully grown in mixed borders in the walled garden. This is followed with a chance to visit the house and enjoy a delicious meal before returning to Brockencote Manor Hotel.
Day 6:
Driving across to the Welsh borders towards Ludlow, with a chance for a stroll around the thriving mediaeval market town before a special invite to visit Michael Marriott’s own new small garden already featuring Michael’s favourite roses. Coffee included. Return to Brockencote Manor Hotel with time to settle in before a pre-dinner talk with Michael Marriott, chief rosarian to David Austin Roses who will join you also for the evening meal.
Day 7:
We travel south to Oxford, and a enjoy a morning in the Botanic Gardens, established in 1621. Over the next 20 years the level of the land, which sits within the flood plain of the River Cherwell was raised with “four thousand cart loads of mucke and dunge” and a wall with four gateways built to enclose the Garden. It was planted in the 1640s following the appointment of the Garden’s first Keeper Jakob Bobart the Elder inn 1642 and has subsequently grown to include more than 5,000 plant species. The 400th anniversary was recently marked with the planting of a new hybrid rose from the Peter Beales nursery, named ‘Oxford Physic’; there many more species roses to be discovered in the Lower Garden. Next to the Botanic gardens we find Magdalen College, whose extensive gardens date from the 16th century and include a Rose Garden, designed for the college by Sylvia Crowe in 1953 to commemorate the development of penicillin as an antibiotic in Oxford during the 1940s. Between visits we find time for lunch in one of Inspector Morse’s favourite Oxford pubs, and there’s some free time too, to enjoy a stroll around the glorious city centre.

The tour ends at approximately 18:00 at the Sofitel, Heathrow. For those wishing us to book this additional night please state clearly on your booking form, price, and availability on request. This is very conveniently placed for those that need to fly home the next day or continue with their plans to extend their stay.

One night dinner, bed & breakfast at the Winchester Wessex Hotel
Three nights dinner (with wine), bed & breakfast at Ockenden Manor Hotel
Three nights dinner (with wine), bed & breakfast at Brockencote Manor Hotel
Seven lunches as stated in the itinerary
Private coach transfers and excursions including the airport transfer to the return to the London Heathrow Sofitel on Day 7
Guided visits to sites listed in the programme
Services of the Leader and Tour Host
Detailed programme and garden notes
All entrance fees, taxes and gratuities for coach driver

Charles-Quest Ritson

Charles Quest-Ritson started out as a lawyer but is better known as a writer, journalist and translator. His many books include The English Garden Abroad [1992], Olive Oil [2004] and Ninfa [2009]. He has also edited the RHS Year Book and written two prize-winning books on roses. He and his wife Brigid garden in Hampshire (2½ acres of chalk) and Normandy (12 acres of woodland and apple orchard, where they grow 1200 roses.) He is a popular lecturer and columnist for Country Life magazine.

Michael Marriott

Michael Marriott has recently retired having worked at David Austin Roses as a technical manager and senior rosarian, and remains as one of the world’s most-respected rose experts. He is also well-known for his rose garden design and his common sense approach to gardening. In his work he travels the globe, often sharing his expertise in lively radio, TV, newspaper and magazine interviews.

Paul Zimmerman

Paul Zimmerman is the owner of Paul Zimmerman Roses, a company dedicated to Budding the Rose Grower In All Of Us. He is also an Independent Consultant to Jackson & Perkins as well as their Head of their Landscape & Design Division and exclusive Rose Consultant to Biltmore Estate as well as director of their International Rose Trials,

He has written articles for Fine Gardening, Organic Gardening, American Nurseryman and other gardening magazines. He hosted the blog “Roses Are Plants, Too” on Fine Gardening Magazine’s website for numerous years. He lectures internationally and has also served as an International juror for numerous Rose Trials. He is the author of the book “Everyday Roses’ published by Taunton Press.

While living in Los Angeles, California Paul founded and ran “Hundred Acre Woods Rosescapeing”, a company specializing in the care, design and installation of rose gardens; particularly Antique, Shrub and David Austin Roses.

After moving to South Carolina he started Ashdown Roses Ltd a rose nursery offering A World of Garden Roses, which he closed in 2009 to focus on rose growing education.

Among some of his other accomplishments are founding a You Tube Channel on rose care with to date some 4 million views, creator and host of the Blueprint (formerly Craftsy) class “A Gardener’s Guide to Growing Roses”, was hired by the New York Botanical Garden to review their care protocols and was hired by the Chinese Government to present a two day seminar on the American Rose Industry and American Rose Gardens to a delegation of rose experts from China. He is now also leading garden tours in Europe.

It is this hands on experience with roses in a general garden setting that Paul draws on for his Talks, You Tube Videos, Articles, Tours, and Workshops.

Your Accommodation

Mercure Winchester Wessex Hotel

★★★★

Situated in Winchester’s historic centre, Mercure Winchester Wessex Hotel overlooks Winchester Cathedral. This vibrant heritage destination is renowned for its legendary Arthurian Round Table. The elegant hotel features a traditional restaurant and a 24-hour front desk.

Ockenden Manor Hotel & Spa

★★★

Ockenden Manor is an exquisite Elizabethan manor house approximately an hour’s drive from central London. The peace and tranquillity of Ockenden Manor provides a stylish retreat with 28 lavishly decorated rooms, outstanding spa facilities, an award-winning restaurant, all set in 8-acres of beautiful grounds overlooking Cuckfield Park.

Room Facilities & Amenities

En-suite bathroom
Temple Spa bathroom products
Satellite TV
Complimentary Wi-Fi
Direct-dial phone
Fluffy dressing gowns
Complimentary tea & coffee tray with home-made biscuits
Hairdryer
Nine acres of private gardens with terrace and croquet lawn
Fabulous restaurant serving delicious food created using the finest locally sourced ingredients
Award-winning Spa and treatment rooms
Stunning in-and-outdoor swimming pool
Oak-panelled bar
State-of-the-art gym & fitness studio
Elegant drawing room with open fire
Friendly, professional service

Brockencote Hall

★★★★

Renowned for its superb cuisine and excellent service, this traditional country house is set in 70 acres of tranquil parkland and dates back over 300 years. The property is part of the Eden Hotel Collection which has been awarded AA Small Hotel Group of the Year 2014 - 2015.