Wildflowers at Great Dixter - Day 5 Rewilding

Day 5 of our Rewilding adventure invited us to become explorers and find somewhere we had never been before. So we spent a warm, sunny afternoon in the enchanting wildflower meadow at Great Dixter in Northiam, East Sussex. I grew up just 20 minutes away from this magical place, so how is it possible that this was my first visit? It was there the whole time, waiting to be explored.

Here in the UK, we've lost 97% of our wildflower meadows since the 1930s. It was so special to be in a place that is trying to conserve such a precious habitat.

Great Dixter was the home of Christopher Lloyd - the gardener and writer who was famous for his experimentation and his enthusiasm for constant change. Sometimes described as a controversial character, he established Great Dixter as a hub for great thoughts and new ideas. He sounds like someone I'd love to have met.

The garden is well-known for its natural feel - self-seeding is encouraged and densely planted borders over-hang the paths, acting like a towering jungle for our little wild one to explore.

Oxeye daisies hover amongst the clumps of perennials in the borders, leading the eye from the structured areas of the garden to the ethereal drifts of native wildflowers in the meadows beyond. Here, the meandering mowed paths invited us to wander through this magical space and rest a while under the apples, plums and hawthorns, where we watched the pollinating insects flitting from one flower-head to the next - hard at work.

The meadow slopes off into the distance, merging seamlessly into the gentle grassy hills of the East Sussex countryside that I know so well.  I couldn't love it more!

Common spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)

Yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor)

Greater quaking grass (Briza maxima)