On a perishingly cold day – encouraged by a wintry sun – the intrepid Garden Volunteers ventured out on their mission to spot which brave flowers are showing off in the gardens this new year, 2026.
Viburnum tinus
This is the third year we have undertaken a flower count, so we should know roughly what to expect. UK weather data shows that 2025 was the sunniest on record, and probably the warmest too. Here in the depths of winter, it’s easy to forget the unprecedented spring sunshine and incredibly hot summer that we’ve had. This is bound to have disrupted plant lifecycles and confused some into flowering at the wrong time.
As we come up to Christmas and the end of 2025, this is a great time to look back at how the ‘Old Pond Garden’ (OPG) project has fared this year.
Tree of Heaven, Ailanthus altissima, dressed up for Christmas (plus 27 garden volunteers!)
Of course, it’s not just the ‘Old Pond Garden’ project any longer, as volunteer work now covers the whole estate, but we are still fond of the OPG tag. Since April, the Garden Volunteer scheme has been run by Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust (RGHT), however considering 80% of volunteers are also CABAHS members, it’s fair to say we are still very interested and still very involved.
Sharon has taken on the crucial role of Volunteer Lead for RGHT and works with Head Gardener Jason to make sure everything runs smoothly. She posts lovely updates on the garden team’s WhatsApp after every session, keeping us all on track, and sends a report off to RGHT every month.
Here are some highlights picked from Sharon’s reports of the past few months, I make no apology that this is a rather long post – we have done a lot!
Thank you to everyone who came to the annual Easter Trail “Bunnies in the Beds” at Charlton House walled gardens on Sunday April 6th. What a fabulous day we all had! We are so grateful to all the helpers, garden volunteers, CABAHS members and RGHT staff who made the event happen.
The Bunnies were hiding in their favourite plants this year, so the children learned a bit of Botany whilst spotting them! We admit to importing a few pots of flowers specially for the event ( I can’t see Jason wanting Marigolds or Periwinkle in the Old Pond Garden on a permanent basis..). After finding and naming the flowers, children had to find the Bees in the Bushes in order to pollinate the flowers – thanks to Carolyn for all those cute knitted bees!
Another cold start to a new year allowed the volunteers to take a step back from gardening and undertake a second survey of plants in flower at Charlton House. This had been done at the beginning of January 2024 and it was interesting to compare during a gentle walk round on 9th January 2025. At first glance there seemed to be little flowering. Making a thorough search with fifteen of us, along with Jason, we found many that were on last year’s list as well as some unexpected interlopers.
Only our second foray into the world of London in Bloom (part of RHS Britain in Bloom) and we have achieved a coveted Gold award!
Last year, we only entered the Walled Gardens category, but this year – since we now cover most areas of the whole estate – two categories were entered: the competitive “Our Community” and also the RHS “It’s Your Neighbourhood”. Although these look for gardening excellence, they also cover community involvement.
Thursday volunteers and Jason with our awards
The judges visited on a very hot day in mid June and had already been to several local gardens including Charlton Station and Orchard when they arrived at the gates of Charlton House. On reflection, it was a great idea to show them around the estate in reverse order – we did the Meadow and Wilderness, followed by the Glade and Long Garden, then finishing with the jewel that is the Walled Gardens. Following that route they saw the progression of work and Jason was able to explain his ideas for each different area.
They loved the Glade, with its mounds made of green waste and excess soil, demonstrating how nothing goes to waste and the creativity of making a flat area more interesting. Remember this?
Making the first moundStamping the topsoil downWeeding and making more mounds
The best words in the report were reserved for the Old Pond Garden – the judges report says “Jason, working with the volunteers, has restored the walled garden quite possibly to something that is better than the original walled garden.” Wow! They go on to say ”Jason truly understands the secrets of good design and plant combinations, and makes an excellent Head Gardener. We see the harmony of working with volunteers, who have been able to put many of Jason’s thoughts, with his expert guidance, into reality.” What an accolade!
If you went down to the park yesterday, we hope you had a big surprise, for all the ‘bears’ were gathering there together because.. of the Teddy Bear Hunt!
Where?Over there..Over here..
Thank you to all who came and donated or supported this fun event, and to all the (over 100) children who found the ten hidden Teddies and worked out the name of the Charlton House Teddy to get their treat. (It had to be Newton Bear of course, named after Sir Adam Newton, who built Charlton House). But what a huge range of ‘teddy’ soft toys came along for their photo-opportunity! (please post your pictures to #charltonhouseteddy).
Getting Teddy ready for his shoot
And of course huge thanks to our volunteer/resident Artist who made the “Ted Head”, a brilliant attraction for both young and old!
The promised lovely weather was marred by a short rain-burst in the middle of the day to freshen everything up and make the picnic-ers dive for the Old Library, but it was only for 5 minutes and everyone came out again. We are so well used to it this year! The day was not only for the children, the gardens were looking particularly fine, with 35 different flowers in bloom.
A successful day and a lovely community event with collaboration between the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust, the Garden Volunteers, Charlton Library, Charlton Toy Library and Frilly’s cafe. Thank you!
If you go down to the Old Pond Garden this Saturday, you’re sure of a big surprise. For every teddy that ever there was, will gather there together because, today’s the biggest floral count ever!
If you have ever wondered which month is the most floriferous in the Old Pond Garden, I’m guessing it’s July. We are expecting lots of visitors this Saturday July 20th, 11-3, for the Teddy Bears Picnic, and they are in for a treat (as well as a picnic) as we have counted over 30 plants out in full flower. Can you spot them all? We will have an info board out so you can match names and flowers, while the kids are charging about finding the hidden Teddies. Works for all ages.
The Teddy Bear trail will be in the Old Pond Garden and there will be lots of photo-ops for you and your teddy with the lovely garden backdrop. See you there, better come in disguise!
28 Marsden Road SE15 4EE, Open Sunday to Thursday inclusive, 10.30 to 16.30. No charge
We are members of the London Wildlife Trust, which runs the Centre for Wildlife Gardening (CWG), but it was word-of-mouth from a volunteer at Christchurch Community Garden that made us aware. We visited on London Marathon Day, passing through a crowded Blackheath Station on our way to Peckham Rye Station.
Marsden Road itself is remarkable: its houses all along have designer ironwork gates & railings on wildlife themes, and each lamppost has a ‘squirrel’ high above. These, and the wildlife-themed iron gates to CWG, were designed by Heather Burrell: bollards at the entrance and within were designed by Antony Gormley: a gable-end has a large mural of a Goshawk.
Tom Stanier, the Horticultural Team Lead at Greenwich Park, gave a talk about his life as a gardener at the Park and a behind-the-scenes look at working there in these challenging times. He described how he came into gardening, his training and work at the Park and some of the Park infrastructure, policies and projects. It was great to hear from someone with hands-on experience there.
He said he felt a connection with Charlton House as he had been married there in 2018. His interest in gardening really took off in 2017 when he moved into a flat in Lewisham with his partner and began to grow plants on his balcony and indoors. He had a radical rethink of his life in 2018. Having a child particularly refocused his life on his choice of a future career. Having been in retail for ten years, he decided he wanted to work out of doors and do something flexible and tangible. He successfully applied for the 2 year Royal Parks Apprenticeship Scheme which is part practical and part college-based course and chose to work at Greenwich Park as he thought it was more interesting. He completed an RHS Certificate and has since taken over leadership of the Horticultural Team at the Park, working closely with the head gardener.
Our first volunteer session of 2024 fell on a wet and windy day (a Severe Weather Warning day in fact), so we decided to abandon gardening tasks and go for a bracing walk around the estate to spot for plants in flower and work off a few mince pies.
Although a lot of our findings were to be expected (Primroses, Hellebores, Mahonia) others definitely felt wrong – Penstemon Garnet, you should NOT be out! It will be interesting to do the same exercise next year and compare. In the meantime, below are some cheering pictures of our walk:
Mahonia japonica in the GladeHardy Volunteers on our New Year ramble (and Casper)
I think you could say that the Mahonia in the Glade was a “Star Plant” for this time of year.
Penstemon ‘Garnet’, top left, then Achillea ‘Cerise Queen’, Sarcococca confusa (you should smell this!) and Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’.
Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society 