In September 2024 I wrote here a paean to the stunning, hidden and surprising gardens tucked away throughout Rye. Just look at an aerial photograph and you’ll see what I mean. Even better, come and visit them in the Summer 2025 Rye Open Garden scheme, and see for yourself the little green oases you never had any idea were there.
Who would have thought there were so many? The views from some of them literally
take your breath away the first time you walk into them, and the variety is astonishing. Some are cosy and small and others surprisingly big for a very built-up town.
I also praised our visitors and openers who contributed hugely to the scheme, last year we raised over £5,000 shared between four well-loved local causes: our hospital, our church, the community bus and the food bank. So, just to explain to the uninitiated, every Monday morning from 11am to noon, a secret unknown garden in the town of Rye opens to all locals for £4 a head. This huge entry fee includes a cup of tea or coffee, cake, and a possible raffle prize.
The raffle prizes do vary from A to Z a bit, and are a constant source of joy and / or amusement. We’ve had a bottle of body lotion surviving from garden to garden and becoming almost fizzy and dizzy on its journeys. We’ve welcomed bottles of really good wine, and of course lots of plants arrive on the raffle table, and then there was the vacuum cleaner belt circa 1972, strangely unsnapped up. But anything from the bottom drawer is more than welcomed. So here’s to a wonderful summer of gardens, all our charities need the money, and we all need cheering up!
If you would like to open (yes please!) we would love to hear from you, don’t
worry, we do the coffee making and pouring, and the garden doesn’t in any way
have to be weed free. Equally, if you would like a list of openers when it is
finalised so you can visit a few, just email me and I will send you one by return.
colkins@btinternet.com or text 07850 219956.
Image Credits: Col Everett .