How rich are they?

I took some days off last week and went visiting gardens in search of visual stimulation, fresh air and a chance to see how spring is shaping up. I ended up at Exbury on the south coast. The gardens belong to Mr and Mrs Edmund de Rothschild, of banking fortune fame.

As it is still early in the year, the rhododendrons and azaleas are not yet at their peak. There are plenty of them, acres and acres of the things, and they will be hugely impressive later on, but for now the camellias are the stars of the show. They have two walks amongst the most wonderful red, pink and white flowering camellias. They are well worth going to see and a return visit or two later in the year would also be worthwhile. The estate is large enough and well-designed enough to have largish areas of interest throughout the years.

One thing that strikes you is the number of plaques beside trees stating that this one was planted by Her Majesty the Queen, this one by Prince Philip, another by Lady Di etc. Not only have all the royal family planted trees but the Queen and her mother must have planted at least 10 each on separate occasions. How rich can the de Rothschild family be if they have the British royal family do their gardening for them? It makes you think….