HOLIDAYS  BUYING  HELPLINE Great Escapes: Dorset Tour 3 Flowered Up After Kent, Dorset must have been a close-run second for the moniker of Garden of England, such are the floral riches that await you. The choice is dizzying, but we've selected the best. And it's as well we have, since you could easily spend a week on the trail of the region's herbaceous delights. Here, we've chosen a mixture of the unique, the interesting and the relaxing. So, we'll take you from the Sub-Tropical Gardens at Abbotsbury to the world-famous water lily collection at Bennetts Water Gardens, via the luxuriously laid-back Larmer Tree Gardens (complete with strutting peacocks). Though you can visit them all in a day, it would be a tragedy to make short work of such a wealth of colour and detail, or indeed ignore the potential for some serious relaxation in inspirational surroundings. Gardeners will have the chance to pick up tips from the experts. 1 AURELIA GARDENS, WEST MOORS Rather than a riot of colour, this well-kept secret of a garden offers it appeal by way of subtle suggestion, apart from the big love-heart-shaped bed of shrubs just as you walk in, that is. It is small compared with some of the stately home gardens on this tour. But that's the idea – if you like what they've done here, it aims to inspire you to change the way you think about using colour in your own garden. If not, you certainly won't be bored. And if you're interested, you can get some tips from the gardeners themselves, who also have a few plants for sale. 2 LARMER TREE GARDENS In a hotly contested field, this fantastic place takes the spot for the most ornate and extravagant display – and that's before the peacocks have even started to shake their tail feathers. It was put in place towards the end of the 19th century by General Pitt Rivers for "public enlightenment and entertainment" and it's held true to that vision admirably. The spaces created by the original designers are a testament to the imagination of the Victorian era. It really is an enchanted garden and one in which you can lose track of time – and the outside world – in a most delightful way. 3 MINTERNE GARDENS Designed after the style of the landscape gardener 'Capability' Brown, these horseshoe-shaped gardens are very much a product of their age – the late 18th century – when successive expeditions to the Himalayas brought back coveted rhododendrons and magnolias. Though the former are commonplace now and something of a pest in some areas, at the time they were a 'must-have' flora for any country seat worth its salt. There are many interesting water features, which are brightened up in summer by primulas, astilbes and water lilies. The horseshoe is about a mile long, from end to end, so there's plenty of space for a pleasant stroll. 4 KINGSTON MAURWARD GARDENS Simple, yet grand and expansive, you can well imagine the aristocracy of the day passing the time in so carefully crafted an environment as Kingston Maurward's pleasure gardens. Again inspired by 'Capability' Brown and in particular the 'Jardin Anglais' style he made so popular. Of all the gardens on the tour, these offer the best opportunity for getting lost for a morning or an afternoon, which could comfortably turn into a day if you make use of the restaurant in the house, or spend time in the animal park. There's some nice topiary but we liked the lake and the croquet lawn, which was in use when we visited. There's also a Japanese garden and an Elizabethan garden which demonstrates the best plants to grow in Dorset soil. 5 ATHELHAMPTON HOUSE AND GARDENS The splendid house here dates from 1485, and the gardens from 1891, though they've been added to since. The 12 giant yew-tree pyramids on the Great Court are easily the most impressive pieces of topiary on our tour, standing proud at over 30ft tall and 100 years old. Athelhampton provides a peaceful environment, with some particularly soothing water features (not least the River Piddle) and a scattering of secluded seats from which to take in the sights and smells. 6 BENNETTS WATER GARDENS, CHICKERELL An internationally renowned producer of water lilies, Bennetts has also developed a beautiful water garden over the 43 years it has occupied this pleasant location. There's also a tropical plant house which has many exotic flora on display, including cacti. The artist Monet has clearly been something of an inspiration – a replica bridge has been built to recreate the image from one of his most famous paintings. It offers as good a chance to have your picture taken inside an impressionist painting as you're ever likely to get. If you find yourself yearning to recreate a similar aquatic paradise in your own back garden, then Bennetts' Aquatic Centre has all you need, in terms of equipment and advice. 7 ABBOTSBURY SUB-TROPICAL GARDENS Having started life as a simple kitchen garden for the first Countess of Ilchester's castle back in 1765, these grounds have been developed by her descendants into an exotic enclosure that transports you round the world (with no help from the British climate, that is). Many of the plants grown here were the first of their kind to have found their way to these shores. Following the storm of 1990, restoration work introduced more unusual and exotic varieties. Abbotsbury is both extensive and captivating, with walled walks, bridges and views across the nearby valleys. And there's the opportunity to shop for plants afterwards at the nursery. 8 MAPPERTON HOUSE AND GARDENS In the heart of the Dorset countryside, Mapperton is a quintessential West Country manor house, with a marvellous valley garden to match. The house was built in the time of Elizabeth I, though the latest addition to the gardens, the Orangery, was only finished in the 1960s. The Elizabethan flavour persists, with many secret paths hidden about the place. The surrounding valley is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and also has some fine walks. We particularly enjoyed the south-westerly views from the pergola in the formal gardens. 9 FORDE ABBEY AND GARDENS A fragrant mix of ferns and heathers is our abiding memory of these gardens, such pleasant aromas just one of the benefits of visiting after a brief burst of rain. Forde Abbey's arboretum offers a wide variety of trees of all shapes and sizes, or alternatively you can take in the cultivated lawns. Between these, the flower beds and the Abbey are statues and some benches from which to take in the pleasant geometric shapes in the topiary. The plant centre specialises in the rare and unusual. HOME PAGE | TOP OF PAGE GREAT TRAILS   Jurassic Lark  Delve into the past  Flowered up  BACK TO ARCHIVE PLANNING  Distance 190 miles Time Two days Suitable for garden lovers and green-fingered enthusiasts. Tourist Information Wimborne Minster Tourist Information Tel 01202 886116 Refreshments Coach House Restaurant (at Athelhampton House) Tel 01305 848363 Forde Abbey Restaurant Tel 01460 221290 Attractions Larmer Tree Gardens Tel 01725 516228 Website CLICK HERE Minterne Gardens Tel 01300 341370 Kingston Maurward Gardens and Animal Park Tel 01305 215003 Athelhampton House and Gardens Tel 01305 848363 Website CLICK HERE Bennetts Water Gardens Tel 01305 785150 Website CLICK HERE Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens Tel 01305 871387 Website CLICK HERE Mapperton House and Gardens Tel 01308 862645 Website CLICK HERE Forde Abbey and Gardens Tel 01460 221290 Website CLICK HERE > HOLIDAYS  BUYING  HELPLINE Contact Practical Motorhome Best viewed in screen resolution 800 x 600 using I.E.4 or Netscape 4 or later.