Winter Garden

At the heart of the Winter Garden, with its grouping of shrubs for seasonal interest, lies the Ice House. Ice houses were common additions to the grand estates of the eighteenth century.

During the nineteenth century, the mound was home to a rock garden for hardy ferns, which were especially popular with the Victorians. The site was included in the post-war restoration programme when it was transformed into a chalk garden for British calcareous natives.

Today the visitor can enjoy the delicate and scented blossoms of winter. The plants in this area are arranged aesthetically rather than systematically. Some are garden cultivars, others are garden-worthy species from temperate regions. An evergreen backdrop sets off the shrubs that flower on bare wood. For example, the sweetly scented Mahonia x media "'Winter Sun", Winter Box (Sarcococca humilis) and the chocolate-scented Azara microphylla surround deciduous Wintersweet (Chimonanthes praecox), pink-flowered Viburnum x bodnantense "Dawn", Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles x superba "Crimson and Gold"), Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas), Witch Hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia "Pallida"), and the catkins of Willow (Salix aegyptica). These shrubs are pruned to shape in early spring after flowering.

The woody specimens are under-planted with bulbs such as Winter Aconite (Eranthis hymalis), Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis, and Windflower (Anemone blanda) that naturalise if left undisturbed. Herbaceous plants such as Helleborus lividus "Corsicus", Pachysandra terminalis and Elephant's Ears (Bergenia crassifolia) intermingle. Of special note in conservation terms is White Forsythia (Abeliophyllum distichum), which is endangered in its native Korea.

Another winter border near the Victoria Gate is being developed to cheer the visitor in the colder months.

The Winter Garden and Ice House are number 16 on the Visitor Map.