Tiggy Salt

Winter garden visiting is a solitary pastime, lending itself to the misanthrope, and is highly recommended. When it’s so cold not even your dog wants to come with you, seize the moment, spurred on by the smug promise of self-improvement. Unfortunately, many of the best garden gates are closed during winter and can only be imagined or glimpsed by chance; see Hatfield in the film Orlando, with Tilda Swinton in the title role; her blanched androgyny majestically amplified by the frosted maze and standardised Quercus ilex of this great garden through which he/she runs. There are other possibilities, however; Painswick Rococo Garden in Gloucestershire is a gem, championed for its rare and abundant snowdrops, and Hampton Court has an embarrassment of attractions — the oldest hedge-planted maze in Britain and the Baroque Privy Garden of William III offer structure and form while their herbaceous bedfellows rest.