Top Ten: Tropical Gardens

In bloom: Britain's gardens offer a wealth of colour

In late summer, British gardens - from the Scottish Highlands to the Isles of Scilly - explode in a fanfare of exotic colours. Make the most of it with a homegrown tropical weekend away.

East Ruston Old Vicarage, Norfolk

This delightfully theatrical garden lies just a mile-and-a-half from the windy Norfolk coast, where the low rainfall and mild winters enable Graham Robeson and Alan Gray to grow a huge range of tender plants.

Look out for phormiums and Melianthus major, which provide a backdrop to dazzling dahlias, cannas and South African plants.

East Ruston Old Vicarage (01692 650432; www.e-ruston oldvicarage gardens.co.uk) is open until October 29 on Saturdays, Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Bank Holiday Monday, August 29, 2pm-5.30pm. Entrance £4. Manor Barn (01692 651262; www.northnorfolk.co.uk/manorbarn) a mile away, has B&B doubles from £50.

Special Plants Nursery, Gloucestershire

Derry Watkins' Cotswolds garden reflects her passion for collecting plants from as far afield as South Africa, Nepal, Chile and Ethiopia.

A fabulous 80ft bed of double nasturtiums marks the edge of the lawn and demonstrates Derry's talent for bold planting.

Showstoppers include the dark red sunflower Velvet Queen, pale blue Nicandra physalodes Violacea, known as the Apple of Peru, and the red-leafed castor oil plant, Ricinus communis Impala.

The Special Plants Nursery garden in Cold Ashton (01225 891686; www.specialplants.net) is open every Wednesday in July and August, 11am-5pm. It's also open on August 12, August 18 and September 15. Entrance £2.50. Corston Fields Farm (01225 873305; www.corstonfields. com) in Corston, a 20-minute drive away, has B&B doubles from £70.

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Bosvigo, Truro, Cornwall

Michael and Wendy Perry have created a delightful two-acre garden that looks even better in September than in May. Go in late summer and they promise the colours will 'knock your socks off'. The garden, which surrounds a Georgian house, is divided into different 'rooms'.

The Hot Garden is a firework display, where dahlias, orange crocosmias, yellow heleniums, red salvias and lobelias, and purple ligularias combine with a tapestry of dark-leaved foliage.

Bosvigo (01872 275774; www.bosvigo.com) is open until September 30 on Thursdays and Fridays, 11am-6pm. Entrance £3.50. The Royal Hotel (01872 270345; www.royalhotelcornwall.co.uk) in Truro, a five-minute drive away, has B&B doubles from £85.

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Coleton Fishacre Garden, Devon

Designed in 1925 for theatrical impresario Sir Rupert D'Oyly Carte and his wife, the Arts and Crafts house overlooks a garden dotted with streams and ponds.

The D'Oyly Cartes enjoyed planting rare species brought to Britain by plant-hunters.

As you wind your way down to the sea, past swamp cypresses and Chilean myrtles, you'll spot tender exotics such as mandevilla and dense thickets of fragrant mimosa.

Coleton Fishacre Garden (01803 752466; www.nationaltrust.org.uk) is open until October, Wednesday to Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, 10.30am-5.30pm. Entrance £4.40 (free to National Trust members). Barrington House (01803 835545; www.barrington-house.com) in Dartmouth, a short ferry ride away, has B&B doubles from £115.

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Tresco Abbey, Isles Of Scilly

There's nowhere quite like Tresco - even if you do have to take a boat trip or helicopter ride to get there.

With 20,000 exotic plants, many of which wouldn't survive on the Cornish mainland, this is a truly astounding sub-tropical garden set within a formal framework of paths and high hedges.

The sun-baked terraces at the top of the garden contain plants from South Africa and Australia, while the humidity lower down suits specimens from New Zealand and South America.

Tresco Abbey (01720 424105; www.tresco.co.uk) is open daily 10am-4pm. Entrance £8.50. The Island Hotel (01720 422883; www.tresco.co.uk), a half-hour walk from the gardens, offers dinner, B&B, from £162 per person.

Inverewe Garden, Poolewe, Ross-shire

Thanks to tons of imported soil and the effect of the Gulf Stream, which blows warm air from the Mexican Gulf, plants from all over the world flourish on this once inhospitable headland in the Scottish Highlands.

Begun in 1865, Inverewe is vast - 50 acres - and contains more than 2,500 plant species from across the world.

The trees grow to astonishing heights and there are glorious views of Loch Ewe. Look out for the Hairy Armpit Tree - and take your midge repellent.

Inverewe Garden (01445 78120; www.nts.org.uk) is open daily 9.30am-9pm (closes 4pm in winter). Entry free to National Trust for Scotland and National Trust members, otherwise £8. The Poolewe Hotel (01445 781241; www.poolewehotel.co.uk), a fiveminute drive away, has B&B doubles from £70.

The Exotic Garden, Thorpe, Norfolk

Author and garden designer Will Giles has created a unique one-acre plot that mixes plantsmanship with showmanship.

Palm trees, bamboos, ginger lilies, cannas and highly scented angel's trumpets create lush banks of vegetation, and Will's many cats add to the charm.

The Exotic Garden (01603 623167; www.exoticgarden.com) is open Sundays until October 10, and Bank Holiday Mon, 1.30pm-5.30pm. Entrance £4. The Beeches Hotel (01603 621167; www.mjbhotels.com) in Norwich, a 15-minute drive away, has B&B doubles from £95.

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Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens, Dorset

This 20-acre garden dates from 1765, and a lot of work has been done on restoring historic features and expanding the planting. You'll see agaves and yuccas from Mexico, echiums from the Canary Islands, aloes from South Africa, hoherias from New Zealand, bananas from Ethiopia and vast Chusan palms from China.

The Japanese-style red bridge leads through to the bog garden where giant gunneras grow. Children will adore the swannery.

Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens (01305 871387; www.abbotsbury-tourism.co.uk) are open daily until October, 10am-6pm, and from November to February, 10am-dusk. Entrance £6.80. The Abbey House (01305 871330; www.theabbeyhouse.co.uk) in Abbotsbury, a ten-minute walk from the gardens, has B&B doubles from £75.

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Great Dixter, Northiam, East Sussex

The gardens at Great Dixter, created by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, have been in Christopher Lloyd's family since 1910.

Many of the plant combinations and colour themes are unconventional, but where Christopher leads, many have followed. Dahlias and cannas in lustrous hues provide the main blaze of colour, with a backdrop of large foliage plants such as bamboos.

Tall Verbena bonariensis adds a cloud of purple, with white coming from the late-flowering shrub Escallonia bifida.

Great Dixter (01797 252878; www.greatdixter.co.uk) is open daily, except Monday, 2pm-5pm (open Bank Holiday Monday). Entrance £5. The Old Vicarage (01797 222119; www.oldvicaragerye.co.uk) in Rye, a 20-minute drive away, has B&B doubles from £90.

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Beth Chatto Gardens, Elmstead Market, Essex

Beth Chatto's five-acre garden is proof that shrewd planning can overcome the drawbacks of poor soil and lack of rainfall.

Fourteen years ago, a parking area was turned into the Gravel Garden and has not been watered since. Drought-resistant plants such as lavender, cistus, sedums and alliums give the garden a Mediterranean feel. By contrast, the Pond Garden is dense and jungly, with impressively sized gunnera and magnificent dawn redwoods and swamp cypresses.

The Beth Chatto Gardens (01206 822007; www.bethchatto.co.uk) are open March to October, Monday to Saturday, 9am-5pm; and November to February, Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm. Entrance £4. The Rose and Crown Hotel (01206 866677; www.rose-and-crown.com) in Colchester, five minutes away in the car, has B&B doubles from £78.

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