The best flower gardens in London

By CW Contributor on 2/3/2021

With the fresh scent of spring in the air and freedom on the horizon, it's time to see the city in full bloom. Whether you're a lover of lavender or raving mad about roses, we've rounded up the best gardens in London to please every flower fan.

Queen Mary’s Gardens, Regent’s Park

It’s quite an experience entering the ornate gates of this regal garden and being confronted with sweeping vistas of colour. Queen Mary’s Gardens boasts London's largest collection of roses – approximately 12,000 in 85 different varieties. With plenty of benches dotted around you can spend the whole day reading and lounging amongst these fecund flowerbeds

WHERE

Regent’s Park, Chester Road, London NW1 4NR

Dutch Garden, Holland Park

Holland Park is a horticultural haven known for showcasing international garden styles – most famous is their Kyoto Garden, which invites visitors to find their zen amongst tiered waterfalls and koi carp. For luscious blooms however, head to the park's Dutch Garden where tulips and yellow irises sprout jubilantly from their beds to greet the warmer months. See them in their full glory in mid April.

WHERE

Holland Park, Ilchester Place, Kensington, London W8 6LU

Lambeth Palace Gardens

These massive private gardens are open to the public the first Friday of the month from April to September. Lambeth Palace has been the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury since 1197 and is home to one of the oldest gardens in England. Come see its abundance of lavender beds against a fairytale backdrop of medieval turrets and stone battlements.

WHERE

Lambeth Palace, 119 Kennington Park Road, London SE11 4JS

Great Broad Walk Borders, Kew Gardens

Kew is filled with all manner of gardens: rose gardens, Japanese gardens, grass gardens. However, their most impressive hortological exhibit has to be the Great Broad Walk Borders, apparently 'the longest herbaceous borders in the country' which lead visitors down a trail of colour and scents for 320 metres.

WHERE

Kew Gardens, Kew, Richmond, , Surrey, TW9 3AB

The Rose Garden, Hyde Park

Hyde Park also stakes its claim on the English rose garden and channels novelistic romance with charming pergolas and fountains dotted around. Look out for the curvilinear flower beds which are shaped to look like musical notes.

WHERE

Hyde Park, London W2 2AR

Kenwood Garden, Isabella Plantation, Richmond Park

From bluebells and marigolds to their famous pink azaleas, Richmond Park's Isabella Plantation will offer a cornucopia of floral delights throughout the seasons. But for true botanical treasures, head to Chiswick House's Kenwood Garden to see the world's rarest varieties of camellias which bloom in pink and white.

WHERE

Kenwood Garden, Chiswick House, Isabella Plantation, Richmond Park, TW10 5HS, London