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Wakehurst Place and the interactive Millennium Seed Bank exhibition are the perfect answer for visitors of all ages, whatever time of the year. Open all year round, Kew's country garden at Ardingly, offers visitors botanical interest through the seasons. Little wonder then that the site has been named 'Garden of the Year 2001' by the newly published Good Britain Guide. Something Wakehurst staff are rightly celebrating.
Alongside the 180 estate is the home of the Millennium Seed Bank and a fascinating public exhibition into every aspect of this major international conservation project. Its aim is to save wild flower species from extinction. Its home has been described as a cross between temple, art gallery, aircraft hangar, greenhouse and laboratory - you can actually see the white-coated boffins busy at work behind big glass windows. There is no doubt that the Seed Bank is a compelling visit. The first thing the designers have chosen to reveal is a giant, floor-to-ceiling seed wall. It looks great, while the individual seeds prove to be very beautiful as you get up close.
The interactive bit is very good, offering a virtual reality tour of the cold storage where millions of seeds are kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius for hundreds of years - safe against extinction in the wild. You can even 'open' the seed jars and learn about the plants you are unearthing!
'Go Wild Festival 2003', a summer celebration of British biodiversity, kicks off with an exhibition by Sussex artist Ali McNab. Ali has transformed the former chapel at Kew's country garden. Her inspiration came from exploring the wilder and more mysterious areas of the 500 acre Wakehurst estate. The natural materials used in the exhibition were carefully selected during winter coppicing in nearby Pearcelands Wood. The exhibition will run through the summer, changing with the seasons - just as nature intended. Currently the emphasis is on spring wild flowers from bluebells to primroses.
Open daily from 10am, there is also a gift shop, restaurant and conservation exhibition in the ground floor rooms of the Elizabethan mansion. For more details, please call the Wakehurst enquiry line on 01444 894066. See our website for latest information.