We asked Harry Hoblyn, Head Gardener at Charleston, to share his insights into the remarkable garden that surrounds this historic home. Deeply intertwined with the artistic legacy of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, the gardens at Charleston are a living expression of their creativity.

A garden is more than just a collection of plants – it’s a living, breathing space that reflects your personality and creativity. One of the most powerful ways to shape your garden’s atmosphere is through colour. 

In any well-loved garden, the thoughtful tasks often have the most impact. Among them, mulching stands out as a simple yet powerful way to care for both your plants and the soil beneath them. Beyond its practical benefits, mulching reflects the gardener’s instinct to nurture, protect, and encourage healthy growth with every passing season.

Cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone, is essential for managing the body’s fight or flight response. However, the pressures of modern life have led to persistently high cortisol levels for many, contributing to exhaustion, anxiety, and burnout. The increasing pressures of modern life – work demands, digital overload, and rising living costs - have left many searching for ways to bring calm into their daily routines.

Every rose has its own story before it ever blooms in your garden. Whether you’re planting a long-dreamed-of border, filling a favourite container or giving a gift to someone special, it’s good to know how each rose is grown and when it’s ready to plant. Bare root and 2-quart potted roses each follow their own rhythm, but both carry the same promise - beautiful blooms that return year after year, full of colour, scent and joy.

Roses are invaluable in a mixed border; I love using them in every garden I create. Roses bring height, form, structure, and, most importantly, they bring romance and magic. The sheer beauty and presence of their blooms is so striking that their charm stays in the memory long after their blooms have faded and gone.

There’s something truly special about a living wall, an ever-changing display of colour, scent, and texture. If you’ve ever dreamed of covering a wall, fence, or even a bare corner with a cascade of blooms, English Roses are the perfect choice. With their soft, romantic beauty and repeat-flowering nature, they will transform any vertical space into a floral haven.

Some things stay with you - the scent of a rose in the evening air, the feel of a book well-read, the quiet wisdom passed down from one pair of hands to another. Gertrude Jekyll and Vanessa Bell understood this. They knew that gardens, like stories, are not just about beauty; they are about memory, feeling, and the simple joy of making something your own.

There’s something truly enchanting about a garden bathed in soft, silvery light. As dusk falls, the moonlight gently highlights the beauty of white flowers, casting an almost ethereal glow. This is the allure of a moon garden - a space where you can escape, unwind, and find solace in the simplicity of nature.

There is an elegance in simplicity, an honesty in working with nature rather than against it. Planting bare root roses is a return to this way of gardening, a method that has stood the test of time. Before plastic pots, before garden centres lined their shelves with ready-made plants, this was how roses were grown: lifted from the field in winter, their roots exposed to the air, then carefully wrapped and sent to gardeners who knew the best things take time.

Evelyn^® is a rose that invites admiration at every turn. With soft apricot-pink petals arranged in large, full blooms and a heady, fruit-laden fragrance, she’s more than an English rose, she’s a garden companion with a story to tell. Named after Crabtree & Evelyn, the Massachusetts-based brand invoking the romance of the English countryside, Evelyn^® captures the essence of timeless beauty and grace.

Growing English roses is a rewarding experience. Their beauty, vibrant colours, and lovely fragrance make them a true highlight in any garden, and feeding them properly is key to keeping them healthy. That’s why we’ve added Osmocote^® Smart-Release^® Plant Food Plus to our website – a straightforward way to provide your roses with the balanced nutrition they need throughout the season.