Visit Camellia Festival For Mother's Day

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At Chiswick House and Gardens

A visit to the Camellia Festival in the 200-year old Conservatory at Chiswick House and Gardens, is an ideal outing for Mother's Day this weekend. (March 10)

This year's Chiswick House Camellia Festival takes until March 17 2013, in the spectacular setting of the 19th century Chiswick House Conservatory.

Picture; John Fielding

The Camellia Festival attracts visitors from all over the country to see the collection in full bloom, widely regarded as one of the finest in the country and certainly the oldest in the West. It includes rare and historically important examples of these beautiful plants, with a fabulous array of blooms; pink, red, white and striped. Many of these are descended from the original planting in 1828. Among these is the unique Middlemist’s Red, originally brought to Britain from China in 1804 by Londoner John Middlemist, a nurseryman from Shepherds Bush. It is one of only two in the world known to exist – the other being in Waitangi in New Zealand. 

This year, as part of the 200th anniversary celebration, there will be an exhibition of early pictures and photographs showing the Conservatory through the centuries, culminating in its complete restoration in 2010.

Sir Peter Blake has donated an original watercolour of a Camellia, which will be made available as a print during the Festival, to raise funds for the Trust. The Camellia shop will sell a range of modern plants for home growers. It will also feature postcards and a limited edition Camellia bag designed by the acclaimed designer, Marthe Armitage, who also lives and works in Chiswick.

 

The Chiswick House Camellia Festival 2013
Chiswick House Gardens, London W4 2QN
Dates: 16th February –17 March 2013
Conservatory opening hours: Daily 10:30 am –4pm
Chiswick House: exclusive ‘Festival’ weekend openings 10am – 5pm

Advance bookings and information: chgt.org.uk
Tickets £8 (under 16’s free) including free Camellia and Conservatory guide
TicketWeb or call 0845 477 1000
For details of group bookings (discounts for 10+) and group tours Tel: 020 8742 3905

All funds raised help to support Chiswick House and Gardens Trust, a registered charity dedicated to the preservation and continued enhancement of the historic Chiswick House Gardens, open free to the public every day until dusk.

Camellias have been grown in China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam as a garden plant for thousands of years. The name of ‘Camellia’ was given to the genus in the 18th century, in honour of Georg Josef Kamel, a Moravian Jesuit apothecary and botanist, who worked in the Far East.

March 7, 2013