Regent's Park An open garden in London

Having spent the last week in London during one of it's hottest periods (June 2009) - Regent's Park is a major oasis of calm, peace, fresh air right in the middle of one of the world's busiest cities.

The 487 acre (2 km²) park is mainly open parkland which supports a wide range of facilities and amenities including gardens, a lake with a heronry, waterfowl and a boating area, sports pitches, and children's playgrounds. The north-east end of the park contains London Zoo and the headquarters of the Zoological Society of London. There are several public gardens with flowers and specimen plants, including Queen Mary's Gardens in the Inner Circle, in which the Open Air Theatre is located; the formal Italian Gardens and adjacent informal English Gardens in the south east corner of the park; and the gardens of St John's Lodge. Queen Mary's Gardens in the Inner Circle were created in the 1930s, bringing that part of the park into use by the general public for the first time. The site had originally been used as a plant nursery and had later been leased to the Royal Botanic Society.

The Park is built on land belonging to the Abbess of Barking and was bought by Henry VIII as hunting land, later leased to the Duke of Portland, and eventually granted to the Crown. John Nash, the architect, was hired in 1811 to create the most elegant of all London's housing estates drawing up plans for 56 villas (of which only eight ever got built) and classical crescents built around two circuses in the 487 acres of parkland; to be named in honour of the Prince Regent (later George IV in 1820). The Park was fully opened to the public in 1841.

There is a wonderful collection of named roses in Queen Mary's Garden (ideal if you want to check out the scent, colour and vigour), some very inventive bedding and planting (some of which you might only get away with in London's micro-climate), and the recreation of William Andrews Nesfield's (a major Victorian garden designer) plans for the Avenue and English Gaardens is a delight.

This is a public garden space in which you can find peaceful corners, the sound of the city vanishes and can be inspired by some very traditional planting as well as some exciting original ideas. Well worth a visit if you are in London.

www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/regents_park/