Welcome to the Bath WI Garden!
The Bath WI Garden is a small multi-award winning garden located in the beautiful Botanical Gardens in Royal Victoria Park. It is entirely made up of edible, insect friendly, plants and flowers, which we hope will inspire, intrigue, but above all create a peaceful, happy place for our hundreds of visitors to enjoy.
Bath WI Garden News for 1st half of 2021
Its August, and the News is: The Garden has had a happy time so far! Early on we thought about ‘what would be fun’ to plant this year; We like to have a bit of drama in the WI Garden (who doesn’t like a bit of a show !) so one of our Garden Gurus grew striking, tall, purple podded peas instead of the lovely green variety which we normally have. The flowers are so pretty that one curious visitor asked her if they were Sweet Peas! We filled the front Crescent (well it Is Bath!) with lots of different varieties of bright cheerful Nasturtiums; Re stocked with glowing orange & yellow marigolds, Our green fingered Guru gave us another little Tuscan Sunflower field (useful for those who couldn’t travel because of the current restrictions!) and of course, our permanent planting of single flowered Dahlias (so that the insects can access the pollen) the lavender, herbs, & roses were all doing their best to cheer everyone up! This summer we left the tall hollyhocks to self-seed, and they were beautiful, who doesn’t love a hollyhock? So evocative of cottage gardens of yore. In July we were judged as part of Bath’s entry to the RHS’s Britain in Bloom competition. (please keep your fingers crossed for us), & all in all visitors & locals alike just came to find a gentle place to relax. For those who haven’t visited our Garden within Bath’s Botanical Gardens, you may not know that we have a lovely rose arch, which leads through to a large and comfortable bench; it’s a secluded spot, and guess what ! in June it was the perfect location for a young man to propose to his girlfriend! And she said ‘Yes’! Isn’t that Romantic? He chose Our Garden to pop the question.
So 2021 has seen the Garden flourish; under the care of our green fingered Garden Gurus; thank you on behalf of everyone who comes to visit our little plot. Kitty
The vintage roll top bath, echoes the Bath WI logo, while the beautiful IronArt bench is in a peaceful spot, approached through a rose covered arch, a haven, to rest awhile in a busy world.
Our group of dedicated Garden Gurus sow seeds, plant and prune, snip and clip, to create this lovely garden for all to enjoy. We are happy with what we’ve created, its a ‘go to’ destination for so many people, and we look forward to welcoming you to our Bath WI Garden soon.
In September 2015 our wonderful garden and the garden party had a double page spread in WI Life Magazine!
Later the same month we were tickled pink to be asked to appear on BBC Gardeners’ World. A fantastic team, including Rachel de Thame, spent a day with us in the garden and in Kitty’s kitchen…pickling runner beans from the garden!
If you’d like to know more about the Garden please e-mail Kitty at: thebathwi@gmail.com
Kitty Lambah, Bath WI Garden Team
