One of Dorset’s best-kept horticultural secrets is the enchanting walled garden created by Caddy Wilmot-Sitwell at her home in the village of Long Bredy. Hidden in the Bride Valley, her garden unfolds as a romantic orchard meadow, a beautifully tended kitchen garden and a magical rewilded wetland.

But Caddy is also a formidable vegetable grower — a judge, a show-bench stalwart, and a master of the exacting art of competitive vegetables. She’ll share the skills required to grow four-foot-long carrots and the perfect onion. “It’s very technical and there’s no emotion involved,” she says. “Growing vegetables for showing is very addictive.”

After lunch at The Parlour, we stay in the beautiful Bride Valley to visit a mellow old brick-walled garden by the source of the river. Here the largely perennial borders are arranged in ‘rooms’, laid out in a lovely tumble of naturalised planting down the south-facing slope, together with potager vegetable areas and a large lavender border. The sheltered garden is famous for a profusion of scented roses along the edge of the gin-clear stream which glides through the garden.

After tea at the Rectory, we’re thrilled to have Dorset’s renowned flower painter, Flora Roberts, give us a masterclass in botanical illustration. Inspired by historic textiles and paintings, Flora’s work features in murals, wallpaper and interior textiles, and is always informed by sensitive observation of the flowers in her own garden.