Country & Garden: Cuttings

NEWS FROM THE GARDENER'S WORLD

THE GREAT, flint-faced house at West Dean, near Chichester, West Sussex, once belonged to Willie James, patron of Dali and other surrealists. Its bold trustees have underwritten a grand recreation of the glory days of the Edwardian era: peach houses, vine houses, pineapple pits, orchid houses and a grand pergola that stretches for 300ft across the lawn. It is now a college and, in winter, there are garden courses and study days. On 9 December Sasha Crabb will suggest ideas for making Christmas decorations from your garden. This is aimed particularly at beginners and costs pounds 45. For details (or to book) call 01243 811301.

GROWERS IN Scotland will run an Introduction to Organic Gardening at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, on Saturdays (10am-12.30pm) from 13 February to 20 March. The course will suggest practical ways to make your garden green. It costs pounds 70. For more information call 0131 248 2841 or contact the Community Education Officer at the RBG, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR.

STOCK UP with Christmas presents at Jim Keeling's end-of-season sale at the Whichford Pottery, Whichford, near Shipston on Stour, Warwickshire. He makes a huge range of garden pots, traditional unglazed terracotta as well as glazed ware designed by himself and his wife, Dominique. The sale lasts until 6 December. Tea, coffee and home-made soup are on tap at the weekends. The pottery is open daily (9am-5pm). For more details and prices call 01608 684416.