Not fully understanding the climate in England, I pose this question, especially to the Brits who monitor these discussions and are not averse to stating their opinions and thoughts. I would like to take the RS 14 day Best of England tour and am thinking of the May 14 - May 27 time period. Would the countryside be rich in floral activity by then? Besides the historic sites I would like to visually experience the supposed beauty of the English countryside in blossom. Should my travel plans have to change, can someone say when floral activity can be said to be in decline?
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7036 posts
The only time I've been to England was in May and it was beautiful. I only saw London and the south of England. We had wonderful weather with only 1 day (out of 7) with any rain and that was very light misty stuff. Everything was very green and the gardens were in full bloom with the spring flowers. The garden at Anne Hathaway's cottage in Stratford Upon Avon was a riot of color and the gardens in Bath were wonderful. The parks and gardens in London were all in bloom.
Now, this was just one person's experience during one year so you can't rely on the weather to be the same in another year, but I think May is normally a very nice month in England and flowers will be in bloom everywhere. England is an island with pretty temperate weather, and if it's anything like Ireland and the coastal areas of North America there will be flowers (of one type or another) in bloom all year long.
Posted by
2420 posts
Generally - in the south:>
Mid to late March - Magnolia trees flower but most of the countryside shows little sign of green. Daffodils are flowering. Camellias in flower in parks & gardens. Primroses in the countryside
April - countryside starts to have trees and hedges turning green. Tulips are out in parks. Bluebells cover woodlands to mid month.
May - everything bursts into vibrant green in the countryside. Hawthorne hedges are covered in little white or pink flowers. Tulips may still be out. Rhododendrons & Azaleas are out in parks & gardens (peak about 3rd week usually). Towards the end of the month, seeing bedding its removed from flower beds and they are sometimes bare for a week or two until the summer bedding is inserted.
June is the best month for roses - which often have a second flush in early September.
For herbaceous borders, the optimum time to visit is mid July but these go on flowering through August and tale off in September.
So, yes, May is an excellent time to visit.
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
Not sure why the RS Best of England Tour spends two days in Wales! The previous post tells you everything you need to know about flowering times in the south - much of the tour spends time in the north, which will be a couple of weeks behind the south. There's still a risk of frost up north until the end of May.
The tour finishes on a Friday at the start of a Bank Holiday weekend here, so the last day will be busy with those taking an additional day off work to make an extra long weekend of it.
Floral activity declines a little in August, except for the annuals. There is still colour in gardens even now, but this has significantly declined since June. Now is more about the trees starting to change colour.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
Jennifer, I've heard our guides refer to this as the "England and Wales tour" but if we called it that officially, then I suppose people would ask why there isn't more Wales.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7317 posts
As a guideline (because I live near NY City ...), many plants are hardy in England that are not hardy in the US northeast. For example, I saw Fuschia in the soil of the garden of my London bargain hotel. That suggests early blooming for everything. But you can't ask mother nature for a climate refund!