WHAT?  Gardening Bohemia: Bloomsbury Women Outdoors 

WHERE?  Garden Museum, 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB

WHEN?  Now until 29th September 

WHY GO?  To commune with nature. Think of the Bloomsbury set of bohemian creatives and it's always the women that lead, Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Lady Ottoline Morrell and of course, Vita Sackville-West whose legendary garden at Sissinghurst is every horticulturist’s dream. 

The story of these women, whose liberal lives were interwoven and whose talents are recorded for posterity form the focus of this small but delightful exhibition. 

Forget the grandeur of the recent Chelsea Flower Show, this charming display says all there is to say about gardening inspiring friendships for life.  Each of their four gardens, Monk’s House, Charleston, Garsington and Sissinghurst are visited and each has an individual tale to tell of horticultural endeavour despite the trials and tribulations of political and social upheaval during their era.   

Garsington was, and still is, a mecca for creatives.  Anyone who was anyone dropped by in Lady Morrell’s day, from the androgynous Dora Carrington to John Nash, the esteemed landscape artist.

Woolf was so inspired by her garden at Monk’s House in Sussex that she often wrote in a hut next to the apple orchard.  The manuscript of Woolf’s, A Room of One’s Own (1929), on loan from the Fitzwilliam Museum is on show along with reimagined images of her original hut.  Along with paintings, manuscripts, photos and anecdotes, it all transports a bohemian spirit into London’s Lambeth Garden Museum.

IN THE KNOW  Watch for free online, two wonderful videos and immerse yourself in the gardens of Charleston and Sissinghurst.  The accompanying catalogue for Gardening Bohemia: Bloomsbury Women Outdoors £20 is also a glorious reminder of the exhibition with literary extracts, archival photographs and beautiful illustrations: it’s the perfect gift for gardening thespians.