Word has it that the wonderful magnolias at Borde Hill Garden, near Haywards Heath are at their magnificent best right now. Their glades of these mature trees hint at how they must have looked in their native habitat when the famous plant hunters of the late 19th and early 20th century collected magnolia seed for the garden’s then owner, Colonel Robert Stephenson Clarke. The family still lives at Borde Hill and has continued to care for the original trees, many of which are now classed as ‘champion trees’ i.e. the largest of their kind in the British Isles. They are well worth a visit.
