The Royal Park’s new garden opened on 27 April 2026, on the site of the old glasshouses. The rubble became the paths, over 40 trees were chosen for a warming climate, and the planting nods to the late Queen’s life.

Hilliers have been growing plants near Winchester since 1864, and the winter garden here rivals Wisley. Coloured bark, scent, stems worth planting en masse, and a warning about what b=nurseries mean by “dwarf”.

A garden is better for having peaks and quiet times. What flowers in the cold months, what is going on under the leaf litter, and the best argument I know for doing almost nothing in the garden in winter.

It is very easy to visit Richmond Park regularly and miss this altogether. Deer kept out, azaleas kept in: the National Collection of Wilson 50 Kurume azaleas, at its loudest in late April.

A tiny white flower, and yet. Where snowdrops want to be planted, why I lift handfuls in the green from my father’s clumps, what to grow with them, and five places to see them done properly.