Mudpie Fridays >> East Sussex >> Visiting Sarah Raven’s Perch Hill Garden

Visiting Sarah Raven’s Perch Hill Garden

Having recently discovered my own obsession with growing dahlias. I was delighted to find out that Sarah Raven opened her Perch Hill farm for open days several times a year. Specifically designed for when some of her most loved flowers are in bloom. Such as tulips, sweet peas and of course dahlias. Sarah Raven Open Days run at selected times. I had no idea what to expect when we visited to see Sarah Raven’s dahlia. But we had a wonderful few hours at Sarah Raven’s garden I can not wait to go back again.

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How to purchase tickets for Sarah Raven Open Days

Tickets are available on the Sarah Raven website just look for courses and events on the menu. From what I can see the Sarah Raven open days operate on weekdays only. And as she still lives in the beautiful Perch Hill, understandably the dates are limited. And they sell out! I really like that the prices are set reasonably too. Entrance to the garden costs £15, or you can also have lunch included for £30. There are generally two sittings for lunch. I noticed this morning the tickets for April are already on sale.

How to get to Sarah Raven Perch Hill & parking

I received an email to the email address I gave with the booking a couple of days before our visit. Giving further details of how to get to the home of Sarah Raven Because of its location down a single-track road (Willingford Lane), the email gives you a via point to add to your sat nav to add to the route planner. In theory, this brings you in at the other end of the 2-mile single-track road. Only for some reason, it did not work with my sat nav and directed me around and back onto the main road after reaching the via point. My sat nav is set up on the fastest route so I would change yours to the shortest route and then it should work.

It is easy to find signposted from the road with a parking attendant pointing me in the right direction. The car park is in a field close to the house. There is plenty of parking and it’s easy to drive on without any large lumps and bumps! Your details are taken at the entrance and since we opted for tickets with lunch we were given the menu with a map of the garden and directions.

What to expect when visiting Sarah Raven’s Dahlia

Our lunch was at 11.45 so we had two hours to explore the gardens which we just about managed. They are not particularly large but you do want to stop and take it all in. There is such a riot of colour and many of the plants have labels which tell you what they are. Those that don’t or are hidden are often displayed in pretty little metal display cases in cute rainbow vases.

There are different areas in the gardens. We first entered the perennial garden which is where we saw all the different types of Sarah Raven Dahlia. Coming in all different colours, shapes and sizes. It was so nice to see the Sarah Raven dahlia up close rather than through the pages of a catalogue. They really are stunning. I am sure there may be a few extra finding their way into my garden when the season comes.

Next is the annual cutting garden with beautiful clouds of multi-coloured cosmos. Inspiring you to create your own cut flowers Leading to the area directly in front of the house. That had the tallest alliums I have ever seen and a series of flower beds which have been trialling various wild flowers and meadow mixes. There was also a trial ground where you can see Sarah Raven trailing new varieties. Before releasing them to the public via the website. Those in search of more dahlias can follow a narrow winding brick path around the front of the conservatory.

Vegetable Garden

We grow our own vegetables so I was very interested to see a series of raised beds around the side of the conservatory. With lots of interplanting between flowers, vegetables and other edible crops. Including some unusual varieties. It definitely gave me chance to learn something new. And think about how we may look to structure our vegetable garden next year.

Lunch & other food options at Sarah Raven Open Days

When we arrived we were given a small map. On the reverse of the map there were three different lunch meals to choose from. I liked how we were given this in advance as it meant that we could make our choice before we sat down. On the day we visited there was a chicken and almond tagine, a goat cheese, poppy seed and tomato tart and sweet potato and beetroot burger. I opted for the tart and it was delicious with the salad full of edible flowers. All the recipes are from Sarah Raven’s cookbooks. It was served with water and a rose cordial, which is also one of her recipes.

There are two lunch sittings for garden visitors. You select the sitting you would like when you purchase your garden tickets. There is a marque set up behind the barn with cute tables laid with chequered tablecloths and flowers. Service is very efficient and everyone is so helpful. Make sure you do not miss the oast garden which is right next door. I have always fancied staying in an oast house!

If you decide to visit the garden and not have lunch. There then the barn sells hot drinks and cakes and is where cookery courses are run. All the cakes are handmade on-site and look so delicious. I was very tempted by the raspberry and apple cake. There is a small area with seating in the courtyard. Expect to pay around £4 for cake and £2 for a drink. They also sell bacon butties for £4.95.

The Gift Shop

Another part of the garden is the glass house. The conservatory full of tomatoes, peppers and brightly coloured climbers opens up into the gift shop. I had all good intentions not to buy anything. But when you have seen some beautiful flowers in the gardens it is very hard not to buy the seeds! For someone that generally doesn’t buy annual flower seed, I ended up buying six packets. There were also various Sarah Raven tulip bulbs and other favourite spring bulbs on sale.

However, it s the other room of the shop which will probably make you want to part with some money. It is full of vases in every shape and size and colour. The small multi-coloured vases which you can buy in th catalogues have a reduced price and give you the ability to choose the colour you would like. There is also a wide selection of candles designed to coordinate with various flower arrangements. Not to mention a whole shelf of cookbooks and garden books so you can create your own cutting garden.

The ladies working in the shop were also very helpful with plants that we had seen in the garden. Showing where to find them in Sarah’s catalogue for the online shop.

We had a lovely visit and will most definitely be back for the Sarah Raven tulips next year! Have you been to an open day at Sarah Raven’s garden? I would be interested to hear about your experience in the comments below. Check out the Perch Hill diary of events for more details.