Right now, a walk around the Gardens is a quite wonderful sensory experience: not only are the azaleas and rhododendrons blooming in their fullest glory in every shade of yellow, ochre, orange, pink and purple, but they smell sublime as well. In fact, so many trees and plants are massively showing off: the is the moment to visit our two champion specimens of Davidia involucrata better known as the Paper Handkerchief Tree, or sometimes the Dove Tree or Ghost Tree. All these common names refer to the white flowers that look a lot more like handkerchiefs – or perhaps even doves or ghosts – than a conventional flower.

In the Kitchen Garden, the veg are under starter’s orders – it still amazes me how much things can grow in a matter of days. Asparagus, in particular, almost grows while you watch it. It also takes a lot of patience on the part of the gardener as you cannot pick it for the first three years after planting it – hence the rows of straggly stalks that have been left in the ground. Artichokes are appearing; strawberries are still green but there are lots of them and the rhubarb is still going strong.

The glory of the Spring Border bulbs has faded now, and the gaudy tulips et al have been replaced by clouds of forget-me-nots. Next in the spotlight is the herbaceous border running parallel to it, which is just coming into flower. For me, the highlight at the moment are the wonderful irises running next the box hedge. We have added some new varieties and they look magnificent.

In common with all other gardeners, we are praying for rain. That said, the sunshine we have at the moment shows everything at its very best and makes a wander round the Gardens an immensely pleasurable experience. Don’t miss the moment – come and visit soon!