A Day of Art, Flowers and Gardens
Step away from the everyday and discover the stories hidden in flowers. Blooming Marvellous is a carefully curated London Experience Day combining art, gardens, fascinating stories and good food.
We begin at the National Gallery, exploring how artists have used flowers to tell stories of love, faith, beaty, status and remembrance. After lunch the day continues among some of the City of London's beautiful and often overlooked gardens and green spaces.
We begin at the National Gallery, exploring how artists have used flowers to tell stories of love, faith, beaty, status and remembrance. After lunch the day continues among some of the City of London's beautiful and often overlooked gardens and green spaces.
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Vincent van Goch, Sunflowers, 1888, The National Gallery, London. Public domain image via Wikimedia Commons.
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Morning — Secrets in the National Gallery
Flowers are hiding secrets in some of the Gallery's best-loved paintings. Discover their surprising stories, symbols and hidden meanings. |
Lunch — From Garden to Table
The botanical theme continues over a delicious seasonal lunch — in a way you might not expect. |
Afternoon — Gardens in the City
Leave the painted flowers behind and discover some of the beautiful, surprising and often overlooked gardens hidden within the City of London. |
Morning Secrets in the National Gallery |
Why are tiny flowers scattered across a heavenly garden? How can one carefully chosen plant alter the meaning of a painting? And what can a single rose, an exotic bloom or a fading flower reveal that we might otherwise miss?
Look a little closer at the National Gallery and flowers begin to reveal all sorts of secrets. They can speak of love and desire, faith and devotion, wealth and status, distant lands, the senses — even life and death.
Together we’ll uncover the botanical clues hiding in plain sight and discover the stories behind them. Some are centuries-old symbols that earlier audiences would have recognised immediately; others reveal changing fashions, global trade, scientific curiosity or something much more personal.
You may never look at flowers in paintings quite the same way again.
Look a little closer at the National Gallery and flowers begin to reveal all sorts of secrets. They can speak of love and desire, faith and devotion, wealth and status, distant lands, the senses — even life and death.
Together we’ll uncover the botanical clues hiding in plain sight and discover the stories behind them. Some are centuries-old symbols that earlier audiences would have recognised immediately; others reveal changing fashions, global trade, scientific curiosity or something much more personal.
You may never look at flowers in paintings quite the same way again.
Lunch — From Garden to Table
The botanical theme continues over lunch — in a way you might not expect.
We’ll sit down to a delicious seasonal meal in a striking central London setting where some of the ingredients have an unusually short journey to the plate. Beneath the restaurant is a working vertical farm cultivating thousands of plants, with fresh produce grown on site and used in the kitchen.
It’s a chance to relax, enjoy good food and discover how the idea of the garden can be reimagined right in the heart of the city.
I think this is stronger than saying merely “a relaxed lunch” because it gives people another little reveal to look forward to, while still not naming the restaurant.
We’ll sit down to a delicious seasonal meal in a striking central London setting where some of the ingredients have an unusually short journey to the plate. Beneath the restaurant is a working vertical farm cultivating thousands of plants, with fresh produce grown on site and used in the kitchen.
It’s a chance to relax, enjoy good food and discover how the idea of the garden can be reimagined right in the heart of the city.
I think this is stronger than saying merely “a relaxed lunch” because it gives people another little reveal to look forward to, while still not naming the restaurant.
Afternoon — London’s Hidden Gardens
What happens when centuries of London history are allowed to grow wild?
After lunch, we leave the painted flowers behind and follow the botanical story into the City of London, searching out gardens and green spaces hidden amongst churches, ancient walls and modern towers.
Along the way, we’ll discover how war-damaged ruins have become gardens, medicinal plants still echo centuries-old traditions, and tiny pockets of greenery preserve remarkable stories of the people who once lived and worked here. Some gardens are obvious; others are so well hidden that you could pass within metres of them and never know they were there.
The route will change with the seasons and as the experience develops — because part of Blooming Marvellous is seeing what London has growing for us on the day.
After lunch, we leave the painted flowers behind and follow the botanical story into the City of London, searching out gardens and green spaces hidden amongst churches, ancient walls and modern towers.
Along the way, we’ll discover how war-damaged ruins have become gardens, medicinal plants still echo centuries-old traditions, and tiny pockets of greenery preserve remarkable stories of the people who once lived and worked here. Some gardens are obvious; others are so well hidden that you could pass within metres of them and never know they were there.
The route will change with the seasons and as the experience develops — because part of Blooming Marvellous is seeing what London has growing for us on the day.
Who is Blooming Marvellous For?
Blooming Marvellous is for anyone who loves art, flowers, gardens, and discovering London in a more thoughtful way. You don't neeed any specialist knowledge - just curiosity and an interest in seeing familiar things from a new perspective. Come on your own, with a friend, or enquire about a private group.
Practical Details
Blooming Marvellous is a full-day London experience for small groups.
The day combines a guided visit to the National Gallery, a relaxed lunch and an afternoon exploring some of the City of London's gardens and green spaces.
Come on your own with a friend, or enquire about arranging a private group.
Full details, dates and booking information are available on enquiry.
The day combines a guided visit to the National Gallery, a relaxed lunch and an afternoon exploring some of the City of London's gardens and green spaces.
Come on your own with a friend, or enquire about arranging a private group.
Full details, dates and booking information are available on enquiry.