Camellia Festival 2011

Sat 19 February – 20 March 2011 (10am-3pm)

Chiswick House and Gardens Trust is launching a new festival to celebrate the world famous Chiswick camellia collection, believed to be the oldest large collection of its kind in the West.

This is a brand new event in the national garden calendar and the first time the Chiswick camellia collection can be seen in the newly restored Conservatory.

In 1828 the Conservatory was planted with a large number of camellias. Most of these original trees survive today and are exceptionally rare, flowering every March with a fabulous array of blooms in pink, red, white and striped. The collections includes one of the world’s rarest Camellias, Middlemist’s Red, thought to be one of only two surviving examples; the other is in New Zealand.

These extraordinary plants were in danger of being lost as the conservatory fell into ruin in the early part of this century, but members of the International Camellia Society stepped in to tend them, ensuring their survival prior to a £12million restoration of Chiswick House Gardens, completed in June 2010.

The Chiswick House Camellia Festival 2011 provides a perfect destination for garden lovers and heritage enthusiasts alike.

Visitors will have the opportunity to purchase camellias at the festival specially selected for Chiswick House by the UK’s leading camellia specialist Trehane (see Camellias for sale link on right).

Tickets

Via Ticketweb (link on right) or on the gate.

Adults £5

Children £2.50 (Under 5s free)

Children’s activities take place in the Conservatory everyday during half term and every weekend during the festival. Activities will include crafting camellias and making origami flowers as well as a Haiku Family Challenge to help children and parents explore the conservatory and discover more about this world-famous collection.