Last week, in the height of the latest heat wave across southern and central England, we visited Lasborough Park Gardens.  Local schools had closed for the day because of the heat and we wondered if the open day at Lasborough would be cancelled due to the heat.  Hah!  Was it Noel Coward or Rudyard Kipling who said ‘mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun’?  Neither we or the National Garden Scheme who had organized the garden open day, were to be deterred.

It was, in truth, too hot for loitering beyond the shade offered by the garden (and, particularly, the woodland area which is currently being redeveloped).  However, moving from one patch of shade to another offered very rewarding views of a beautifully colourful garden.  The huge walled garden, overlooked by an elegant greenhouse that is full of diverse geraniums, was especially impressive.

The garden was developed by Julia Rausing, the wife of Hans Kristian Rausing.  He is a Swedish billionaire and the son of packaging industrialist Hans Rausing.  His grandfather founded the food-packaging giant Tetra Pak.  Hans Kristian has a somewhat chequered past but, after marrying Julia, set up one of the largest philanthropic trusts in the UK and was knighted in 2025. 

Julia collaborated with the famous garden designer, Tom Stuart-Smith from 2016 until her death in 2024.  Money was clearly not much of a constraint in developing a wonderful garden and both the garden and the surrounding parkland continue to evolve.  

The current head gardener explained to us how Julia had insisted on including a huge number of roses rather than the grasses that are apparently the signature plants of most Tom Stuart-Smith gardens.  He also explained how the current upkeep and enhancements of the gardens are continuing in line with Julia’s wishes and objectives and that Tom Stuart-Smith continues to provide periodic supervision. 

There were much appreciated and needed refreshments after the walkabout around the gardens.  We left very satisfied with the afternoon and the rare opportunity to see up close the gardens only previous glimpsed on past walks in the area.  We were glad of the air-conditioning in the car though!

The outing to Lasborough Park had capped a good week.  Early June had included a number of various health scares (now resolved) for two of our daughters in law and my wife, Jane, and life started to return to normal and have a welcome uptick with arrival of Jane’s birthday.  Middle Son, his partner and our Second Grandson (SG) came over to our house and I managed to serve up lunch using a great, and well tested, Coronation Chicken recipe from Thomasina Miers.  We had a great time in lovely weather entertaining SG in and around our house and a stream adjacent to our garden.

And the fun continued after Lasborough with a trip to Edinburgh to see Eldest Son and his family.  More on that later…..