Great Dunmow Rock Choir to perform at Gardens of Easton Lodge open day on Sunday August 20

Discover fairy doors, play croquet, listen to live music and admire the dahlias and roses at the Gardens of Easton Lodge’s open day on Sunday (August 20).

The Historic England Grade II registered gardens, at Little Easton near Great Dunmow, is opening its doors for family fun from 11am to 5pm.

Children will love finding fairy doors in the Lime Wood and climbing up into the treehouse. There will be an interesting trail in the Glade, featuring the trees there. There will be croquet to play on the lawn and other garden games too.

Great Dunmow Rock Choir will be performing a set of pop and rock songs at 1pm ahead of their trip to Scotland to sing at the Edinburgh Festival.

The group, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, will perform favourite hits by the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Whitney Houston, Dolly Parton and Ed Sheeran for visitors to sing along to.

The gardens are looking stunning after the recent rains and, at last, there are butterflies and bumblebees everywhere, particularly enjoying the nectar from the lavender and border flowers.

The sunken Italian Garden is bright with helenium and nepeta around its lilypond while the historic walled kitchen garden’s dahlia border is growing taller by the day and the cut flower bed is also coming into its own. The roses in both gardens are covered with flowers.

There will be a range of fresh produce for sale as well as stalls featuring plants, crafts and local honey and beeswax products.

The trust’s archivists will have a fascinating display about the gardeners who have made the gardens what they are today. This will include stories and pictures from Victorian and Edwardian times and more recently.

There will also be hot and cold refreshments available while the gardens of Warwick House will also be open due to the kind permission of their owners. They are the front garden of what was Easton Lodge.

Adult entry to the open day is £5.50 for tickets purchased in advance and there is free entry for under-16s. The entrance fee on the gate on the day is £6.50 for adults and free for children. Dogs on leads are welcome.

See www.eastonlodge.co.uk, search for the gardens on Facebook or go to Trybooking.com to purchase tickets in advance.