Offham House

Offham House

It rained, it blew, but nothing could take away from the generosity of our hosts, nor the glory of their gardens.  Ryan’s notice directing us to park on his farm hardstanding, David, a moment later, standing at the gate of his and Jayne’s Offham garden leading us in with a smile – and we knew we were blessed with our South Stoke friends.

Jayne had collected photographs of the garden as it evolved and was always happy to answer questions from her delighted visitors – and the garden!  Set in a bowl of the Downs, it is a place of great serenity and peace; the sheep and chickens beyond the haha (none for the table, all for joy), the great lawn with roses, a pond, heavenly peonies, great pink roses amongst the nepeta, blue geraniums, a great swathe of marguerite daisies planted by the wind, and how wonderful the scent of the sarcocca must be in the depths of winter.

The parterre just right for the formality of the eighteenth century façade of the house, an Indian silk wood tree knocking on the study window, round the corner in the children’s garden a fig readying itself for the sun – and the greenhouse!  David’s expertise in the vegetable garden is second to none.  Two scarecrows guard his vegetable patch at the end of the haha, and his delicious “Mr McGregor” greenhouse is a delight!   His cucumbers, tomatoes, chillies and aubergines (I never knew these developed from – of course – pale purple flowers) made us feel healthier just by looking at them!

As we walked down the greenhouse path, Pittosporum balls of different colours on either side, we felt refreshed by our time in this beautiful place and ready for the second half of our afternoon.