below: Overlooking the Kentish Weald
Churchill lived at Chartwell for more than forty years, and it was here that he gardened, painted, built walls and lakes, met with politicians, and enjoyed a vast array of friends. This wonderful description of a late night dinner there is priceless:
“In January 1928, James Lees-Milne stayed as a guest of Churchill’s son Randolph. He described an evening after dinner; ‘We remained at that round table till after midnight. Mr Churchill spent a blissful two hours demonstrating with decanters and wine glasses how the Battle of Jutland was fought. He got worked up like a schoolboy, making barking noises in imitation of gunfire, and blowing cigar smoke across the battle scene in imitation of gun smoke'”.
After Churchill died, Lady Churchill donated the house to the National Trust, and the house has been open to the public since 1966. We decided to take a day trip to visit the Old Man’s property. A train to Oxted and then a cab to Chartwell got us there easily.
The approach to the house winds along a gentle slope, featuring a couple of these gorgeous trees
and the charming Gavin Jones Cascade.
From here we wended our way up and through the grounds. There’s nothing like an old brick wall sheltering a sunken garden.
And then there is a lovely, long rose border
and some abundant rose petals:
And then these catmints.
I love the inscription: The greater part of this wall was built between 1925 and 1935 by Winston Churchill with his own hands
A few more beauties: cape daisy, oriental poppy and Turkish sage, Phlomis russeliana.
And here is the house, and a budding gardener!
Next up: inside the house!
Alison’s two gorgeous crab apples are in full bloom right now. In my garden, there are tulips (the pink ones blooming with the Judd’s viburnum, just as ordered), daffodils, squills, ipheion, snowdrops, and more. It is an exuberant time in the garden.
This morning we looked out the window at blue skies and decided to go to the Royal Botanic Garden while the weather held. We walked over to the North Bridge and picked up the bus, with a bit of help from the kilt-clad man at the door of the Balmoral Hotel. When the ticket taker told us the blue poppies were in bloom, that was all I needed to hear. They have a reputation for being extremely difficult to grow, and because they come from Nepal or China or somewhere I did not expect ever to see them. They were amazing, so blue and so many of them. 
A few more images that took my fancy:
though the majority of items were made of stone. Those who are interested can find more images of objects 
Then home to pack in prep for leaving tomorrow.
Meanwhile, as you can see from the fallen petals above, the columbines self-sowed with great vigor. You would hardly know that the 
I am continuing to pull them out once they’ve seeded, so I’m probably not making much progress… I do try to shake the interesting colored ones, like this white one, in hopes that they’ll spread and grow next year.
Caroline's Garden and Travel Record 