A Blooming Wonderful Weekend, and a Record-Breaking - Thank You!
What a weekend.
As the last cream tea was served, the final garden gate gently closed and the shuttle bus completed its final trip around the village, Bonchurch Open Gardens 2026 came to an end with something rather special to celebrate.
This year's event raised an incredible approximately £12,000, with almost 1,000 tickets sold across the weekend.
That support will help fund Bonchurch Community Association projects, village events and improvements, helping keep our little corner of the Island looking beautiful and bringing our community together.
A tradition that continues to flourish
Bonchurch Open Gardens has been welcoming visitors since 1979, when Joan Wolfenden first opened her garden to raise money for district nurses. Nearly five decades later, her simple idea has grown into one of the Isle of Wight's best-loved summer events.
In 2026, the event was delighted to be included in the Isle of Wight Biosphere Festival, highlighting not only Bonchurch's beautiful gardens but also the community, heritage and natural environment that continue to make the village such a special place to visit.
This year, visitors explored 16 wonderfully varied gardens, from hidden courtyards and compact artistic spaces to sweeping coastal views, wildlife-friendly planting, miniature trees, colourful borders and peaceful woodland.
Among this year's gardens were:
St Boniface Fields Allotments
Bonchurch Pond
Orchard Leigh
Brookside
Rock Villa
Herriot House
East Dene
St Boniface Church & Churchyard
Cliff Dene
Cliff Cottage
The Old Rectory
St Bedes
Elcombe House
...and several other much-loved private gardens, including on Grangeside, each opening their gates and generously sharing something unique.
Every garden told its own story, and every visitor found a favourite.
Plants, People and Plenty of Conversation
Of course, Bonchurch Open Gardens has always been about more than the gardens themselves. It's about neighbours and visitors lingering over a strawberry cream tea, conversations sparked by a favourite rose or an unusual tree, and the friendly bustle around the plant stall. There, visitors not only found a wonderful selection of home-grown plants to take home, but also enjoyed chatting with the volunteers who had lovingly nurtured them, sharing gardening tips, advice and stories as generously as the plants themselves.
It takes a village...
Events like Open Gardens don't happen by themselves.
They happen because dozens of people quietly give their time before, during and after the weekend.
A huge thank you goes to:
our wonderful garden owners for opening their homes and gardens
everyone who baked, served and enjoyed those famous strawberry cream teas
our plant sellers
our shuttle bus drivers
the ticket seller teams
the marshals and volunteers
everyone who helped with setting up, tidying away and all the countless jobs in between
Most importantly, thank you to every single person who bought a ticket, visited the gardens and supported the village.
You made the weekend what it was.
Go Team Bonchurch!
Bonchurch has always been at its best when neighbours come together, and this year's Open Gardens was another wonderful example of that community spirit.
The BCA would especially like to thank our local volunteers, whose enthusiasm, energy and willingness to lend a hand helped make the weekend run so smoothly.
If watching the weekend unfold made you think, "I'd quite like to be part of that", and you are a Bonchurch resident, we'd love to hear from you.
Whether you can spare a couple of hours at an event, help with a project, or simply want to become part of our friendly community team, new volunteers are always warmly welcome.
Many hands really do make light work, and there's always room for another pair of gardening gloves... or cake-serving hands.
Looking ahead
Although the gardens have now returned to their peaceful summer routines, the funds raised will continue to make a real difference across Bonchurch through future community projects, village events and improvements.
Until next year, thank you for being part of another memorable Open Gardens weekend.
We'll leave you with one thought...
In Victorian times you needed a calling card to visit a garden.
These days, all you need is a ticket, comfortable shoes, and perhaps room for one more strawberry cream tea.