A botanical beauty

FOR years I've travelled up and down the country, filming gardening programmes in the most beautiful corners of Britain.

- DIARMUID GAVIN

Last week, I had the joy of doing that in Oxford. The day before filming a makeover show, I visited the city's Botanic Garden, and spent a few utterly blissful hours meandering along its grid-like paths under a balmy summer sky.

I explored the plant beds, which are arranged by plant family - a living encyclopedia of botanical knowledge, stretching back centuries but still evolving with modern science.

There's a quiet magic to this garden. Right in the middle of the City of Dreaming Spires, so steeped in history, you find this ordered oasis of green. A place where time seems to slow and the chatter of tourists fades.

I was especially struck by the lamiales bed, where familiar friends like rosemary, sage, thyme, and salvias grow alongside more unexpected members like ligustrum and plantago.