The Little Everest viewpoint at Riverhill Himalayan Gardens
Anyone local who s ever ridden a chugging double decker bus or, heaven forbid, cycled up Riverhill, can vouch for the Himalayan-esque heights it reaches. At the very top, as wheezing bus engines are at the point of gasping their last breath, a sign indicates the Riverhill Himalayan Gardens, luring explorers around a sharp bend, behind an intriguing hedge and into a gardener s paradise.
Located in Sevenoaks, Kent, we re not
quite in authentic Himalayan territory. The 12-acre gardens take their name from the Little Everest viewpoint located at the top of the hillside property, as well as the yeti which roams the grounds.
THE common plant-name ‘primrose’ is derived from the Latin ‘prima rosa’ – meaning the ‘first rose’. Appearing as early as December and lasting right through the spring until May, it is a tough little perennial that can cope with most habitats. While it often appears in open woods and shaded hedgerows, it favours damp ground (particularly alongside running streams). You will also see patches of it in meadows and it was once so prolific in those areas that it was also known as the field primrose. Sometimes it even lent its name to parcels of agricultural land and the 1843 Tithe Award for Maldon reveals one such example.
THE common plant-name ‘primrose’ is derived from the Latin ‘prima rosa’ – meaning the ‘first rose’. Appearing as early as December and lasting right through the spring until May, it is a tough little perennial that can cope with most habitats. While it often appears in open woods and shaded hedgerows, it favours damp ground (particularly alongside running streams). You will also see patches of it in meadows and it was once so prolific in those areas that it was also known as the field primrose. Sometimes it even lent its name to parcels of agricultural land and the 1843 Tithe Award for Maldon reveals one such example.