The UK’s sunniest county, Sussex is home to no end of beautiful gardens. Spreading from the rolling, wooded hills of the High Weald in the east to the chalk downlands and fertile greensands of the west, the varied geology and microclimates can accommodate a huge variety of plants, something garden owners have long used to their advantage.

Fifteenth-century aristocrats, 19th-century plant hunters, a Nobel Prize-winning novelist and countless other writers, artists and dreamers have all made their gardens here, each one as unique as their proprietor. This guide opens the gate to over 50 of the finest (including a handful too good to miss in neighbouring Kent), leading you from the gardens of the Silk Route, South African meadows and contemporary prairies to splendid rose gardens, traditional cottage gardens and the sun-drenched orchards where the bohemian Bloomsbury group idled away their summer afternoons.

Pop a copy in your bag and prepare for a journey of horticultural discovery of your own.