When the East Anglian Garden Group visited on 12 May, we were welcomed by Bernard Tickner himself. For the next hour or so, we were taken on a tour of his kingdom by winding paths in the dappled shade of tall trees down to the edge of the lake. Ornamental trees and shrubs coming into leaf provided a colourful tapestry against which the blossoms of late spring were shown to best advantage. The beds offered an astonishing array of euphorbia in flower. (Two euphorbia hybrids found in the garden provide a significant income in plant breeders rights to the trust that now runs Fullers Mill.) Some of Bernard's plants are unique to the garden including a variegated Lunaria. He also showed us a flowering example of Saruma, a small shrub that is new to cultivation Bernard was justly proud of his species paeonies - of particular note were some fine specimens of P. mlokosewitschi in full flower. On the lower levels by the mill pond are many fine and unsual damp loving plants including, on our visit, brightly coloured candelabra primulas. My own particular favourite on the day was a large bank of livid green Matteucca shuttlecocks bordered by white symphytum.

This is a garden for all seasons and would repay a visit at any time. For further information visit: www.fullersmillgarden.org.uk/

David MacLennan.

When the East Anglian Garden Group visited Fullers Mill 23rd August 2022, Liz Law wrote:

After the scorching heat which meant postponing from earlier in August, we had a perfect afternoon for wondering around the seven acres of Fullers Mill. We were warmly welcomed by Yvonne, one of the few paid staff there, who gave us a short talk about the history of the garden and explained just how they managed in the drought of this summer and how volunteers are invaluable to keep the garden looking so good. She also talked briefly about the work of Perennial in helping people in horticulture. The garden and house were gifted to Perennial in 2013 to help the charity with its fundraising.

The person who gave the gardens to Perennial spent 50 years creating them on a beautiful site alongside the River Lark. There have recently been sightings of an otter and we saw eel traps in the Mill Pond which has a delightful weir and footbridge. We took advantage of the various benches dotted around to make the most of the vistas as we wondered, including one just by the Mill Pond with bright pink waterlilies to enjoy.

We were all keen to see how drought had been managed across the different areas of garden and quite a lot was still lush and green despite infrequent watering. The gardens have many trees of different varieties giving shade as you wonder around which maybe helped to stop the perennials from being as scorched as they are in my garden at home.

There were just a few lilies in bloom, lots of dahlias which made a wonderful sight and many other splashes of colour. A small part is given over to alpines and along beside Culford Stream, looking across to the lake, are lots of sun loving and drought friendly plants from Beth Chatto’s.

All of the paths are edged with salvaged logs from the trees in the garden and carpeted with bark to making wondering around easy. In an afternoon, I didn’t get to see the far reaches of the garden but it has wetted my appetite to go back again in other seasons. As has the plant stall – lots of good healthy looking plants grown from seed or cuttings from plants and shrubs in the gardens. And of course the tea and cake as we sat in the shade in corner of the garden after an afternoon of walking, was most welcome.

If you do want to go, the garden is open on Wednesday afternoons, and on Fridays to Sundays from April to October. We were told that there are amazing drifts of bulbs from early Spring into the start of Summer – in fact we were gently reprimanded for tramping all over where the crocuses will flower under the tree where we met as we arrived! There are toilets and a little gift shop and there is a huge car park and a warm welcome.

Liz Law