The Garden Musuem

GARDEN OPEN TODAY!
300 Years of Garden Visiting

An exhibition at the Garden Museum

24 April – 24 June 2012

A special exhibition in the new gallery at the Garden Museum, London, will tell the story of our love affair with other people’s gardens. From a travelling artist’s sketch of HenryVIII’s palace at Richmond – the earliest drawing of an English garden in existence – to Vita Sackville-West’s private photographic albums of Sissinghurst, “GARDEN OPEN TODAY! 300 Years of Garden Visiting” will explore the centuries-old British tradition of opening gardens to the public. The exhibition will celebrate the influence of garden visiting on style and fashion and, above all, celebrate the pleasure, curiosity and inspiration that lead us to a stranger’s lawn.

'Garden Open Today! 300 Years of Garden Visiting' is timed to coincide with the 85th birthday of The National Gardens Scheme. Founded in 1927 to raise money for the nurses of the Queen’s Nursing Institute by opening gardens of quality and interest, the simple, but radical idea asked individuals to open their private gardens for ‘a shilling a head’ (5p today).

Admission: £7.50/£6.50 concessions/£3 Art Fund

The Garden Museum
Lambeth Palace Road
London
SE1 7LB
Tel: 020 7401 8865
www.gardenmuseum.org.uk