From a myriad of roses at Morden Hall Park to over 1,200 colourful lavender plants in full bloom at Ham House, National Trust gardens across London are filled with colour this season.

Here’s a roundup of the very best gardens in London this summer:

Ham House and Gardens

Richmond, Surrey (District Line)

Wander through the Cherry Garden at Ham House during summer and you’ll come across a sea of purple lavender, with 1,200 plants carefully tended by the garden staff and volunteer team to ensure they come back in full force each year. Take in the colour and bright fragrance of the lavender stems, while bees and butterflies buzz around, pollinating the flowers.

The kitchen garden also comes into its own at this time of year, featuring vegetables such as broad beans, carrots, beetroot and spinach and rarer varieties including salsify, skirret and scorzonera, keeping the garden true to its 17th century origins. The produce is used in the Orangery Café, sold in veg bags or donated to the Richmond Food Bank.

How to visit: the garden at Ham House is open every day from 10am – 5pm.
Getting there: Richmond (District Line) 1½ miles by footpath, 2 miles by road. Free parking, 400 yards away in the riverside car park at end of Ham Street (not National Trust).

Morden Hall Park

Morden (Northern Line)

This summer marks 102 years of the Rose Garden at Morden Hall Park, planted in 1921 by Gilliat Edward Hatfeild, the last private owner of the estate. Spot 40 different varieties of rose in the garden, with soft pastel shade of pink and yellow and bright white blossom to spot between May and late summer. Each has its own unique name, with varieties including Rosa Macmillan Nurse and Rosa The Fairy.

Senior Gardener Jade Wall says: In the gardens our big focus over the summer is keeping the rose garden looking good. We dead head our repeat flowering roses to promote new flushes of flowers into early autumn and allow our once flowering roses to keep the best of their spent blooms for a later display of rose hips. We try to keep our pots and containers looking smart by continuing to deadhead annual flowers (unless they’ll give us pretty seed heads!) and making sure they are kept weed free and not allowed to dry out.

Elsewhere in the park, stroll along shady woodland paths dotted with foxgloves and honesty and picnic among wildflowers on the banks of the River Wandle.

How to visit: the car park is open every day from 9am – 5pm. All visitors receive 1.5 hours of free parking. Beyond that, National Trust members park for free, while there’s an hourly charge for non-members.
Getting there: Morden (Northern Line), 500-yard walk along Aberconway Road. Parking charges apply after 2 hours to non National Trust members.

Osterley Park and House

Isleworth (Picadilly Line)

The Ornamental Vegetable Garden at Osterley reaches its peak during late summer after a year of careful care by the garden and volunteer team. It’s made up of four beds, one which is dedicated to traditional planting, one which is made up as a pumpkin patch and the last two of which are for a creative mix of brassicas, dahlias, antirrhinums, zinnias and amaranths, interspersed with vibrant kale.

There’s a late summer perennial border against the western wall too featuring salvias, penstemons, crocosmia, gladiolus and kniphofias creating a colourful riot of colour.

And don’t forget to stop by the original Robert Adams summer house full of lemon trees and highly scented shrubs. Wander through Mrs Child’s Flower Garden made up ofa series of flowerbeds radiating out from the Garden House. Filled with colourful campanulas, sisyrinchiums, lupins, geraniums and peonies, contrasted by taller plants and shrubs, it a real summer highlight.

How to visit: the garden is open daily 10am-4pm with last entry at 3pm.
Getting there: Osterley (Piccadilly Line) 1 mile. Nearest step-free access station: Hounslow East (Piccadilly Line) 1¾ miles. Parking: 400 yards up the main driveway. £7 for non-members, pay by phone.

Fenton House

Hampstead (Northern Line)
Surround yourself with the heavenly scent and colour of roses in full bloom in the sunken Rose Garden this summer. Make yourself comfortable in a secluded spot and watch the bees at work in absolute peace. See glorious white wisteria blossom dripping over wrought ironwork in May and June. And then from June and early July the wildflower meadow will be a haze of white flowers with nodding cow parsley under the apple trees in the orchard. And the north terrace provides a sunny spot for exotic banana canna, figs, artichokes and echiums.

How to visit: Fenton House and Garden are open on Fridays, Sundays and on bank holidays, 11am-4pm, March-October. All house visitors will need to pre-book their visit. Members can book for free, while non-members will need to pay when booking. No need to pre-book garden only visits.
Getting there: Hampstead (Northern Line) 300 yards. Hampstead Heath (Overground) 1 mile.

Rainham Hall

Rainham (c2c)

Drop by this free Community Garden during summer and treat yourself to a peaceful walk along meandering borders, filled with colourful mixed perennials including alliums, vinca and euphorbia. The herb garden spiral will be flourishing, and the kitchen garden will be coming to life, filled with tomatoes, peas, globe artichoke, kale, chard, salad, carrots, beetroot and potatoes.

How to visit: the Garden is free to enter and open Tuesday- Saturdays from 11am-4pm.
Getting there: Rainham Station (c2c) 150 yards.