Gardens
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds has some of the most beautiful gardens in the country: Blenheim Palace has 100 acres of formal gardens; Kelmscott Manor with its meadow and small formal garden was an inspiration to William Morris; Chastleton House has Jacobean topiary and a herbaceous border planted to Gertrude Jekyll’s ‘JMW Turner’ colour scheme; at Rousham the garden really takes centre stage - it remains almost as its designer, William Kent (1685-1748), left it – one of the few gardens of this date to have escaped alteration; Batsford Arboretum has one of the largest private collections of trees and shrubs in the country.
There are also a number of annual open gardens and flower shows each year, including the Blenheim Palace Flower Show.