Adventures in Sussex Prairies

A fortnight ago, I headed out towards Henfield to see the Sussex Prairies garden. Will add to this post later, but just to say, there had been a frost mid-week which had stripped the place of most of its colour, but this gave it a lunar beauty. And what remained stood out even more strongly - vivid glittering golds and reds. It was an unearthly place in the brilliant sunshine - again, I was very lucky with the weather. A still, bright golden day in mid-autumn and, since it was October, as one of its creators Paul commented, not many people had it in their minds to visit a garden, so I had the place almost to myself. Spanning 6 acres and surrounded by fields, it felt like another country.

Just to post a few pictures for now - will add more comments later. I liked the view shown to the right for the contrast between spiky modern planting and soft Sussex trees and the old gate in the background - so different yet so close together, and somehow it works.

Then there were the quirky cut-out sculptures of bison crossing the lawn . . .

But, best of all, the paths cut into the beds - sometimes, these made vistas, but most of the time, they were alluring routes into the unknown.