Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens

Today we had the 'Hydrangea Day' meeting when the RHS trials committee met to discus the merits of the Hydrangea collection. The Hydrangea macrophylla cultivars are growing in the dappled light of the woodland where they are showing off their best colours despite the recent drought. We also ran a workshop with talks and presentations about the cultural requirements for growing Hydrangeas which was a great success and may be the way forward for other workshops in the future.

Absolutely beautiful!

Some lovely photographs from Show of Hands on Saturday. Thanks to Dorsetbays for the images.

Please note that the patio surrounding the Colonial Restaurant will be inaccessible until Saturday 14th July, owing to filming. The restaurant will be closed on Wednesday & Thursday, with a reduced service operating from The Pavilion on those days, and some outside seating on the West Lawn.
Due to the filming at the gardens the catering offer is reduced and is served in takeaway cups and plates.
Limited seating is available with in the restaurant however they may take their t...akeaway items around the gardens to our west lawn where we have additional seating.
On Wednesday and Thursday we shall be operating a very limited cold food service with drinks from the pavilion and the restaurant will be closed.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
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A beautiful day! Thank you to everyone who came yesterday!

There are still a few tickets remaining for Show of Hands this weekend, but they are selling out fast. Grab yours here: https://abbotsbury-tourism.co.uk/a-show-o f-hands/

Abbotsbury Gardens will host the RHS 'Hydrangea Day' on 8th August 2018. Meet the RHS plant trials members, visit the Hydrangea trial, Demos and talks on Hydrangea cultivation and propagation, plant sales. Normal ticket entrance applies.

Please note: The veranda surrounding the Colonial Restaurant is undergoing maintenance this week (until and including Friday 6th July). The Restaurant is open as usual. Please feel free to sit in the outside seating area.

Wow! This was filmed today above Abbotsbury 😍

Beautiful photographs from Paul who visited today.
The sunshine is expected to continue throughout this week and our proximity to the coast and large areas of shade under our canopy of trees makes Abbotsbury the perfect place to escape the heat!

Rare plants as well as craft stalls. Sunday 1st July , 10am to 3pm. Only £7.00 admission which includes entry to the Subtropical Gardens 10am to 5pm (adult normally £12.50). In association with Plant Heritage

After five years this stunning orchid-like climber has flowered for the first time. This rare Honeysuckle - Lonicera calcarata, comes from remote Yunnan province in China and has only been in cultivation since 1996. This is a relatively a new plant introduction by Roy Lancaster's friend, the well known Japanese botanist Mikinori. This plant came from Roy's own garden collection from where he kindly donated it to the gardens. Unfortunately none available for sale.

A tour of the Subtropical Gardens with famous plantsman, broadcaster & author Roy LancasterVMH and your very own curator Stephen Griffith.
Tickets £20 per person, includes welcome tea and cake.
There are only 30 tickets for this event, so book earlier to avoid disappoint. For tickets please call 01305 871130.

The Blue Puya is still looking fantastic! Taken this afternoon.

Plenty of mating dragon flies at the Lily Ponds today, which means a feast for this robin!

Our tadpoles are doing very well in the Lily Ponds this year...

For all those who asked, the Blue Puya is still very much in bloom and you can't miss it on the Mediterranean Bank. Remember, we have been growing it for fifteen years and this is only the second time it has ever flowered, so be sure not to miss it!

This spectacular plant is a Puya bertroniana ‘Blue Puya’ and just about to come into full flower at Abbotsbury Subtropical gardens in the next couple of days. It is quite unique and can only be grown in mild gardens taking -5C maximum in winter. We have been growing it for fifteen years and this is only the second time it has ever flowered. It is a native to the Andes in Chile and is known as an arid Bromeliad. Eventually it will have incredible turquoise blue green flowers with bright orange stamens that are pollinated by Hummingbirds. The flower spike can grow up to 3m . Please come and view it, at the end of the week it should look amazing.

Wonderful place so in tune with nature and it's needs . so well looked after by the staff who are totally dedicated to it's maintenance. Well worth a return visit

We went to our first Family fright night last night (also our first time at the gardens) and it was absolutely brilliant! We arrived at 4:30pm and didn’t leave till 8:30pm! We were entertained all night and loved the illuminated trail with the brilliant bits all the way round, including a giant spider �, slime making, the white lady and ghost stories told by a witch! My children aged 7 and 3 loved it all, the snakes and spiders were brilliant as was the face painting and the fire � breathing was a great way to finish! We had a such a good time and will definitely be back next year �����

Thank you ��

We have an Annual Pass and it is just a great place to visit during different seasons. We love to be there and bought beautiful plants in the shop.

We did enjoy ourselves with sue Anstice Brown yesterday.. Beautiful garden and food was OK but bit expensive food....

This was brilliant. £36 for 2 adults and 3 children. So much to see and do. Only thing I didn't like was the fact dogs were allowed. It's noisy and kids screaming not a place for animals. My grandson tripped over one as didn't see it in the dark. I will be back next year and hopfully for the 3 nights it's on there will be a ban on dogs.

Such a beautiful and peaceful place, a hidden gem

SubTropical Paradise on the Jurassic Coast.



If you’re on this stretch of the beautiful Dorset coast then a visit is a must. Tucked away down a little Lane leading to the coast, just outside the chocolate box pretty village of Abbotsbury, well sign posted.

As you enter through the gift shop into the courtyard treat yourself to a cuppa & slice of cake in the Colonial Tea House/restaurant, with its shady verandah.

The gardens will transport you to far away places, every turn giving you a photo opportunity.

It’s a plant lovers paradise, with exotic specimens you’d not expect on the Dorset coastline.

Palm trees 🌴 that are so straight & tall, tower above a manicured garden. Shady pathways lead through wooded glades, don’t forget to look up at cascading flowers growing through trees.

Criss cross the Japanese bridge over woodland ponds surrounded by plants with leaves so big you can stand under them.

Bamboo walks lead to the rope bridge over another pond, great fun no matter your age!

There’s the Thai garden, the Himalayas with a series of Lily covered ponds, the Magnolia walk up the hill to far reaching coastal view lookout point to the famous Fleet & Isle of Portland.

From a high point in the wooded garden you can sit on a bench, look through the trees to St Catherine’s Chapel on the opposite hill.

Back down at ground level you’ll hear the calls from the resident Cuckaburrah, sit for a while & relax before treating yourself to an exotic plant or souvenir.

I come here often and highly recommend.

No hassle FREE parking too.

Love the Gardens (we’ve been quite a few times) it’s absolutely beautiful and well looked after, not only that they welcome dogs which is amazing! We Went to the Saturday fright night, we don’t have kids but even for us big kids it was lovely, the lighting was brilliant, it was busy but that really didn’t detract from the experience it was nice to see so many people enjoying a fantastic place! I can’t wait to visit again come spring time!

It may seem pricey but it has to be maintained. If you book in advance online 20% discount. We arrived at 11.00 and left at 5pm. The cafe is more expensive than going to Costa but it is a lovely setting and can be used by anyone as outside the ticket office. To get the most out of the garden I do think you need an interest in trees,scrubs,plants as they have some very interesting specimens from across the world. That said even if you just want to stroll and enjoy the birds and peacefulness of the garden it is still worth a visit.

The walk up to the viewpoint is testing but worth the effort for magnificent views of The Coast. Don't go straight up zig zag the slope it's less effort.

Had a lovely day here today with my two three year olds and my husband. Lovely staff, lovely cake and coffee, lovely walks in the garden and extraordinary plants. Next time we are in Dorset we will return!

Absolutely stunning here. The most beautiful place we have visited. We will definitely return

We visited Abbotsbury on 20 June, one of the hottest days this year and it was a pleasure to walk through the shady woodland areas, it was lovely and cool, perfect for a really hot day. The planting is good, the gardeners are working hard all the time to make this an enjoyable place to visit. I missed the Azaleas this year, but all the hydrangeas were there, alstomarias, day lilies, jasmine, fuchsias, it was really beautiful! The lily pond is very pretty at the moment, as are the ponds with plenty of tadpoles, pond life and dragon flies to look at!

The tea room is nice, yes it is a little pricey, but I find most of these places generally are.

I liked the seated garden area, plenty of tables with umbrellas for shade.

Overall we really enjoyed our visit.

We enjoyed our day out in your wonderful garden, and would recommend it to anyone. But the food was a let down ....serving very cold crunchy veg with a Sunday lunch was not very nice and the soup was cold and tasteless. Other then that I will be back but will only be buying drinks.

Took some friends for a birthday treat. Was surprised at the entrance fee and no concession for pensioners. Lots of it closed off, followed the white arrows, but on reading other reviews think we missed a lot out. Had a nice lunch though, went back for tea after walk. Not impressed by the price of a piece of cake, £3.35!!! had the Dorset Apple which looked nice, but was very dry and had to leave most of it.

I was rather disappointed with my visit. £25 entrance for two pensioners for a hour or so was expensive. It was a glorious day and we went up the magnolia walk. It's a steep pull up with a great view but there is a wall and barbed wire at the top. This is an old garden with many mature trees and very worn paths . Lots of huge flowering shrubs . A high walkway would give a fab view of the flowers . Somehow it didn't have the magic of similarly planted gardens in Cornwall. Sad to see caged kookaburras which should have been left in Australia catching lizards. Be prepared for a long walk if you go all around. Would query the accessibility for a wheelchair user. They'd have a very bumpy ride. On the plus side, there is a charming view of St Catherine's chapel from one of the benches. The rope bridge was enjoyed by my companion.

A little disappointed this time. We've been here a few times (3 or 4) and it's nice for a getaway for a few hours. Thought that the entrance fee is a bit steep (more than I remember from previous years), the gardens didn't appear as nice as before (they were nice) but I think needed a bit of simple tidying (at one point on the map (22?) the look out is over grown & rotten). The colonial cafe is nice, enjoyed our lunch there.

We would return but would book in advance if possible.

Spent 40 mins in a traffic que to park up today....got in for the “food festival”....handful of stalls located in a muddy area. Won’t be back

Just got back from the fright night Halloween themed evening. The entry charge is just ridiculous. £18 for an adult, £15 for child. Majorly busy and uncomfortable until the end when most people had left and you could amble around quietly. Not spooky as so busy. Food extortionate and bbq run out so burger or burger as option.

Saving grace Snake and Spider show. Presented by a very enthusiastic expert who connected with the children.

The cost really put a dampener in the event.

Will not repeat this over marketed event. You could almost hear the till ringing through the site!

I take an amazing for peace and calm and gentle walks we go at least twice or even three times a week. Staff friendly restaurant food very good . Shop very nice