The Oxfordshire UNESCO Heritage Site is introducing fresh horticultural highlights this year, from a textural stump garden walk and heritage fruit trees to newly opened garden temples with panoramic views.
Groups visiting Blenheim Palace this year can look forward to a spring and summer full of horticultural highlights, as extensive planting schemes and new garden features bring fresh colour, texture, and experiences.
The Secret Garden will be one of the first areas to burst into life this spring, with seasonal planting including epimediums, bergenias, rhododendrons and drumstick primulas. A newly created stump garden walk introduces a bold and textural ‘spiky’ aesthetic, with birch trees, ferns, and sculptural stumps forming the foundations of an evolving woodland garden.
Other highlights to look out for
Across the wider gardens, there are newly planted areas filled with spring bulbs, while the Arboretum is being enriched with new tree planting. Highlights include red-stemmed willows along the riverbanks and a striking new avenue of ornamental crab apples leading from the Rose Garden - which will be blooming with new alliums - and leads to the Temple of Flora.
Within the Walled Garden, 40 new fruit trees have been introduced, featuring heritage and characterful varieties such as ‘Bloody Ploughman’, ‘Belle de Boskoop’, and ‘Belle de Louvain’, adding historical interest and seasonal appeal.
This year, all three garden temples - Diana, Health, and Flora - will open, allowing visitors to step inside, sit, and take in the panoramic views from each vantage point. Work will also begin this spring on a new ‘Temple Garden’ at the Temple of Flora.
Andy Mills, head gardener at Blenheim Palace, said: “Across the gardens, we’re focused on creating spaces that evolve beautifully through the seasons whilst offering something new and memorable for our visitors each year. From the early spring planting in the Secret Garden to the bold structural changes, this year is about building layers of interest, biodiversity, and experience.
“We want group visitors to feel like there is always something fresh to discover, whether they are returning year after year, or visiting for the first time.”
Group visits to Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace offers discounts for group bookings of 15+ and free admission for one group leader.
There is also free all-day coach parking, a free admission voucher for commercial coach drivers, plus a £5 voucher for them to use in the on-site cafés. Group visits must be pre-booked.
For more information on booking, contact the groups team directly on 01993 815600 or email groups@blenheimpalace.com. The partnerships team are available at partnerships@blenheimpalace.com.
For more information and to book tickets, visit blenheimpalace.com
