Some twenty Grayshott Gardeners members braved the rain on Wednesday for a not-to-be missed opportunity to visit Hortus Loci, a top ranking plant nursery and wholesaler to landscape architects and garden designers.  We were lucky to be shown round their 17-acre site by Sales Director Robin Wallis, who spent his entire working life in nursery and garden centre management and generously shared his experience  and enthousiasm with us, pointing out characteristics of plants, how to treat them, which ones combine well with others etc.  Hortus Loci sources, grows  and  supplies plants for major shows such as Chelsea, and we enjoyed various tales of how they go to great lengths to fulfil almost any seemingly impossible  request.

After a break for hot drinks or lunch from the artisan coffee shop en kitchen there  was enough time left for browsing the large retail plant selection and bagging a bargain or two, before setting off for the nearby West Green House Gardens.

This is a National Trust property, with interesting, well-maintained gardens ranging from extensive lawns round a large pond to a series of garden “rooms” close to the house, forming a beautiful setting for events such as weddings and opera performances. Well worth a return visit when the sun shines!