Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens

Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens is the place in southern England to see plants that normally live under glass growing happily outside. The 20-acre garden lies in a wooded, sheltered valley running down towards the sea at Chesil Beach, and that combination creates a microclimate where more delicate plants can flourish. It is Grade I listed on the national register of historic parks and gardens, and in 2012 it became the first subtropical garden to win the Historic Houses Association and Christie's Garden of the Year award.

The garden mixes formal and informal areas, with woodland walks and walled gardens, and some parts are arranged as zones showing plants from different regions of the world. Many of the exotics were newly discovered species when they were first introduced here, so it is a good place for plant hunters. Allow time to explore both the walled areas and the woodland walks, as they have quite different characters.

Gardeners will take away ideas about shelter and microclimate as much as about individual plants. The way woodland and walls protect tender species is a useful lesson for anyone trying exotic plants in a sheltered corner at home. It is also a reminder that even here, hard winters can do damage: violent storms in 1990 damaged many rare specimens, which have since been replaced by younger plants. Look out too for the oak carved by chainsaw artist Matthew Crabb in 2010 from a 200-year-old tree that fell after a bad winter.