Blenheim Palace celebrates National Gardening Week with spring and summer in bloom

Visitors to Blenheim Palace in 2026 can look forward to a spring and summer full of horticultural highlights, perfectly timed to celebrate National Gardening Week (27th April-3rd May). Extensive planting schemes and new garden features bring fresh colour, texture, and experience across the Park and Gardens, making it an ideal time for a spring day out.

This spring, the Secret Garden will be one of the first areas to burst into life, with visitors able to enjoy hellebores in flower, alongside a rich tapestry of seasonal planting including epimediums, bergenias, rhododendrons and drumstick primulas. A newly created stump garden walk introduces a bold and textural ‘spiky’ aesthetic, with birch trees, ferns, and sculptural stumps forming the foundations of an evolving woodland garden.

Across the wider gardens, there are newly planted areas filled with spring bulbs, including drifts of daffodils that bloomed early in the season, while the Arboretum is being enriched with new tree planting. Highlights include red-stemmed willows along the riverbanks and a striking new avenue of ornamental crab apples leading from the Rose Garden – which will be blooming with new alliums – to the Temple of Flora, dedicated to the goddess of spring and flowers.

The new crab apple avenue will offer a memorable experience this spring, creating a blossom walkway that connects two key floral destinations and leads towards the Temple of Flora.

Within the Walled Garden, 40 new fruit trees have been introduced, featuring heritage and characterful varieties such as ‘Bloody Ploughman’, ‘Belle de Boskoop’, and ‘Belle de Louvain’, adding both historical interest and seasonal appeal.

A significant occasion for 2026 is the opening of all three garden temples – Diana, Health, and Flora – allowing visitors to step inside, sit, and take in the panoramic views from each vantage point. Work will also begin this spring on a new ‘Temple Garden’ at the Temple of Flora.

Andy Mills, Head Gardener at Blenheim Palace, said: “Across the gardens, we’re focused on creating spaces that evolve beautifully through the seasons whilst offering something new and memorable for our visitors each year. From the early spring planting in the Secret Garden to the bold structural changes, this year is about building layers of interest, biodiversity, and experience. National Gardening Week is a wonderful moment to celebrate the work of our team and to inspire visitors with ideas they can take home to their own gardens.”

Admission to the gardens is included with a valid day ticket or Pass to Britain’s Greatest Palace.

For more information and to book tickets, visit https://blenheimpalace.com/.

ENDS