A massive variety of Hydrangeas with their elegant shapes and attractively muted colours are in flower all around the garden – and there is an excellent selection on sale here as well. The bed on the terrace directly outside the Tearoom is full of bright bold colour with a host of Dahlias and Salvias clustered around architectural planting of Hedychium coronarium or Ginger Lily. Just below this, on the lower bed, you will find the contrastingly cool blues of different varieties of Agapanthus.

Hints of autumn are creeping in with chillier mornings and shorter days. In the Kitchen Garden, an abundance of vegetables are growing alongside annuals such as Dahlias and orange Calendulas. Plums have arrived early – specifically the wine-coloured Purple Pershores pictured here – and apples are ripening well. Soon it will be possible to pick a few of your own apples for a contribution to charity (ask at Reception). The venerable Pear espaliers have just been pruned to ensure that all their energy goes into producing large and flavoursome fruit, and pyramids of sweet pea waft their lovely fragrance.

There has been some judicious hedge-cutting too: the clean lines of the box hedges in the Kitchen Garden are a delight, and the Slate Garden is splendid with its smart, clipped lines.