Vita Sackville-West's Climate-Resilient ‘Delos’ Garden Officially Opens
A view of Vita Sackville-West's historic Writing Tower from the completed Delos garden
Work has finally been completed on ‘Delos’, the Greek-inspired garden at Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent, realising a planting scheme first envisioned by the English poet and novelist Vita Sackville-West more than 90 years ago.
The garden, created by National Trust staff in partnership with landscape designer Dan Pearson, is the culmination of a 15-year renewal project at the famous Grade I-listed garden and is now fully open to the public.
In 1935, Vita and her husband Harold Nicholson were inspired by a visit to the Greek island of Delos to capture its essence in a corner of their garden. However, they faced many challenges as amateur gardeners including the Kent climate and the north-facing position of the garden, and despite their best efforts the garden in their minds never quite materialised.
Vita - the inspiration for the eponymous protagonist of Orlando by her friend and lover Virginia Woolf - later commented on the Delos garden in 1953: “This has not been a success so far, but perhaps some day it will come right.”
Work first began to reimagine the Delos garden in 2018 and this official opening marks the completion of the second and final phase of the project.
