It’s a glorious time at Hartford, and it was in spring that our garden first earned its accolades at the The Witness Garden Show more than twenty years ago. By the end of this month and well into October, both Hartford and Summerhill will be a profusion of rosebuds, flowering cherries, and the wisteria will be weighed down by its beautiful mauve petals.

It’s cold in Mooi River, make no mistake. Although the mercury only dipped as far as -2°C this morning, it’s been much colder this winter. With the remnants of recent snowfalls still visible on the Giant, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Spring was still a way off. But if you take a trip to the hidden corners of the Hartford gardens, and look really carefully, you’ll see the first buds and blossoms on the peach and plum trees, the daffodils pushing their way through the frost-hardened earth, the primulas and snowdrops nodding their dainty blooms in the breeze, camellias, poppies, primroses all the signs of Spring which is actually just around the corner!

Chosen by the Rulers of Dubai as the location for their priceless stallions, the “gem of the Midlands” is remembered by chroniclers as one of the country’s most beautiful homes with its award-winning gardens.