Pashley Manor Tulip Festival near Ticehurst in East Sussex is one of three Sussex tulip festivals (the other two being Arundel Castle in West Sussex and Tulleys Farm in Mid Sussex).
Each Sussex tulip festival offers something unique and the Pashley Manor Tulip Festival is truly spectacular with 48,000 tulips on show and over 100 varieties. You’ll find it tucked away down a sleepy country lane not far from the Kent border just east of Ticehurst.
Pashley Manor Gardens
Pashley Manor itself is not open to the public but a visit to the gardens does offer you a chance to see it from the outside. Built in 1550 (with a Tudor front and an added Georgian back), the house and grounds here have a fascinating history. The gardens are open to the public (check opening times) and include 11 acres of beautiful grounds and borders. They are family owned and maintained and also include an ever changing exhibition of sculptures.
The Pashley Manor Tulip Festival
Each spring, in late April/May, Pashley Manor hosts its annual festival of tulips and it is magnificent. The thousands of tulips are laid out in dazzling displays in a variety of beds, borders and pots in different themed gardens rooms.
Clever informal formal planting (or in other words, planting made to look informal by clever and organised planting) creates wave after wave of colour.
Different varieties add depth and feel to the displays and the varieties are helpfully labelled (what’s not to love about Rosa Penelope or Tulipa Lasting Love varieties) and all shimmer and sway about the beautiful backdrop of the old walled garden, sweeping fields, ornate ponds and of course, the magnificent house.
Herbaceous borders and the ‘Hot Garden’
You are greeted on your arrival by a row of pinks, then as you enter the garden itself, the first section includes formal straight borders with the house behind them and grand views in front. This area is awash with hot reds and spicy oranges and yellows, toned down with Eton Mess style cream and red tulips.
The Walled Garden
The Walled Garden culminates with the pool at the top along with living arches of blossom (in spring) with light pinks, deep magentas, purples and creams. This is also where you’ll find the greenhouse, the vegetable beds (yes, with more tulips) and a stunning view of the side of the house.
The lawns and Summer Tea Terrace
Make your way round to the back of the house and the Summer Tea Terrace for more wow factor. Shades of yellow give way to flaming orange and red tulips, which in turn jostle for position with the vibrant light pink crowd.
Next to them deep magentas wrestle with reds all with the purple blanket of wisteria that quite literally drips from the back of the house.
Hidden paths and walkways
I defy you not to feel like a small child in a sweet shop as you hurry from one display to the next, soaking up frilly blooms, candy cane stripey contrasts and bursting double flowerheads that drip over pathways and add splashes of colour in every nook and cranny. There are archways and double borders, secret corners and sweeping views of the house or the grounds.
You’ll probably have to go around a couple of times just to make sure you’ve seen everything and from every different angle. The other planting in amongst the tulips only adds to the delight. Here you might see hellebores or forget me not, there you might see bluebells or pansies, or the first fronds of bright green ferns unfurling.
Sculpture, moats and bluebell walks
Of course (and rightly so), the tulips are the star of the show at the festival but that’s not to say that there isn’t lots else to see. There is a moated island, water features, ponds, a black swan, a bluebell walk and a fabulous selection of sculpture.
The keen eyed amongst you will spot a number of pieces by Philip Jackson including Dante (you may have seen this also in Midhurst, West Sussex), Anne Boleyn and La Donna e Mobile but there are plenty more to discover by a variety of both prominent and local artists and they add to the unadulterated joy of discovering a new swathe of tulips.
The Blooms Bulbs Marquee
If you want to know more about winning tulip varieties, head into the marquee near the shop, where you’ll find cut displays of tulips with the expert winners of seventy Chelsea Gold Medals standing by to offer advice.
Coffee and cake
Grab a slice of locally made cake and a pot of tea or coffee or perhaps some lunch, and enjoy it on the beautiful terrace with the house behind you, the lawns ahead and tulips all around you.
This tulip festival has the wow factor and visitors seem genuinely interested in the many different varieties. There is lots to see and do and it was well worth the £16 entry fee / per person.
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