Westwood Valley

The growing conditions in the dramatic ravine of Westwood Valley are cool and moist, making it an ideal home for Wakehurst's Asian collections.

With over 4,000 species, the temperate regions of Asia, especially the eastern Himalayas, are the richest in the world for plants. The fascination in which they are held comes from the fact that in many genera, or plant families, the best species almost always come from Asia - the most beautiful flowers, the most attractive bark, or the most vibrant autumn colour.

The reason for this is that eastern Asia was one of the major centres for the evolution of the very first flowering plants. Their huge diversity today is because in ancient times, they escaped the advance of the glaciers in a protected area known as a refugium. There, they adapted to growth in an exceptionally wide range of environments ranging from tundra to tropics; from high arid mountains to lush valleys.

Westwood Valley represents the landscape of the eastern Himalayas below the tree line, with semi-evergreen forests of rhododendrons, laurels, maples, alders, oaks, birches and conifers. In particular, the Valley's rhododendron collection is being developed to show how these glorious plants vary across Asia.

However, there are plants other than these exotics in Westwood Valley. As befits a wood in the Weald, there are natives here, too - bluebells, lady's smock and the common spotted orchid among them.

The rhododendrons in Westwood Valley are at their most spectacular in spring and early summer and the woodland floor is carpeted with bluebells in spring. But even earlier than that, plantings of Daphne bholua show off superb displays of delicate highly-scented flowers from late winter through into March, and their intense perfume spreads out through the valley like an invisible mist.

Continue the tour

Back up to: Conservation Zone

Carry on to: Field Study Centre