This morning, we will be the guests of Amanda and Dominic Vail at Floriston Hall on the Suffolk/Essex borders. Amanda specialises in growing seasonal, sustainable flowers in a one-acre flower farm she started in lockdown in 2020. This has been expanding since 2020 and Amanda now supplies flowers to her floral designer daughter Lucy Vail and Covent Garden flower market. We will enjoy an inspiring tour of the flower farm and explore the rest of the gardens at Floriston Hall, where the borders should be at their peak. The box at Floriston is beautifully maintained so we will glean lots of tips from Dominic.

We will travel the short distance to Tinkers Green Farm, home of Denny Swete, where garden designer Denny, is providing us with lunch before we visit their garden. There is a mix of exuberance and formality in the borders, as well as a verdant decorative potager and Denny is passionate about encouraging wildlife so uses no sprays to control pests. Behind the 16th century cottage, Denny has created long herbaceous borders that ripple with strong colour and there is a shady and restful courtyard garden, planted with cool greens and creams.