Country Life's gardens editor Tiffany Daneff picks out some of the finest ferneries in Britain.
Beth Chatto Garden, Colchester, Essex
Beth Chatto Gardens, Colchester, Essex
Excellent inspiration for planting combinations, with many fern varieties in The Long Shady Walk, Water Garden, Woodland Garden and north facing clay bank. Open all year for a full picture of habit throughout seasons. Excellent nursery with homegrown plants.
Dewstow Gardens, Monmouthshire
A madcap, fantastical world of grottoes, subterranean tunnels, ferneries and rock gardens. Built around 1893 by the eminent Victorian firm James Pulham & Son, the gardens were buried in WW2 then excavated and restored in 2000.
Attadale, Wester Ross, Scotland
Attadale Gardens
Beautifully planted Scottish estate, stretching over 20 acres. It encompasses woodland, waterfalls, sculpture and a range of gardens, including a fern garden with tender plants housed in a space-age geodesic dome.
Trebah, Mawnan Smith, Cornwall
Trebah Garden, Cornwall
A classic subtropical garden packed with rhododendrons, magnolias and hydrangeas. Head for the Stumpery and Cascade for an array of ferns including unusual Australasian tree ferns.
Chelsea Physic Garden, Chelsea
The fern house and surrounding area houses an extensive collection of both hardy and tropical ferns, all displayed at waist level and clearly named. A good chance to swot up on the finer details of each variety.
Where to see snowdrops: The best places in Britain
The sight of these tiny white flowers peeping through in January or February never fails to cheer us up –
The trials of collecting snowdrops: ‘Is there no love for a Heffalump or a Grumpy?’
A galanthophile’s work is never done, says Michael Heseltine, as he tells us about his family's floral hobby; collecting snowdrops.
Plas yn Rhiw: An intoxicating Welsh garden that time forgot
Non Morris visited one of the most beautiful gardens in Wales, and came away utterly smitten.
Tropical fruit and palm trees in deepest Surrey? Why they’re going bananas at Wisley
A newly-planted exotic garden at RHS Wisley has torn up the rule book – it's a bold gamble for a garden
