The St Davids City Open Gardens event is taking place this weekend, June 14 and 15, 2025 at various gardens across St Davids, including Twr y Felin Hotel and Penrhiw Priory.

The event provides a unique opportunity to discover the enchanting gardens tucked away in this picturesque corner of Wales. The gardens in Britain’s smallest city, recognised as the first Bee Friendly City in Wales, all very a great deal in size, history, design and interest and some of them have agreed to open for the public to explore and to help raise funds for Prostate Cymru and local environmental group EcoDewi.

Twr y Felin Hotel, Wales’ first contemporary art hotel, features over 250 original artworks, including those on display in the recently opened Sculpture Garden, dedicated to renowned Welsh sculptor John Cleal. Ceramicist Adam Buick’s unique Monoliths are also available to view in the gardens alongside a unique installation by Angharad Pearce Jones. Her sculptural works, inspired by Pembrokeshire gorse and Caerfai Bay, sit gracefully on the hedge banks, merging art and nature.

Penrhiw Priory, an eight-bedroom five-star guest accommodation venue, sits in acres of grounds and includes a spectacular wildflower meadow that features wild orchids, oxeye daisies and meadow buttercups, a woodland walk above the River Alun and Adam Buick’s incredible Moon Jars, which are made with inclusions from the landscape.

General Manger Emma Bowen said, “This weekend is one of our favourites each summer, when we are able to showcase the grounds at our venues, which we have nurtured over many years. We have been purposeful in our creation of outdoor spaces that encourage the exploration of art and nature and look forward to sharing them with visitors.”

Tickets available throughout June from The Really Wild Emporium, or from the Prostate Cymru stall at Cross Square on June 14 and 15. Note that some gardens have slightly different timings, which will be mentioned in their garden write-up.

Some of the gardens owners will be offering refreshments or plant sales, but all will be offering a warm welcome and be happy to answer questions about their plants and garden. So check for details of each garden to plan your visit over the Open Gardens Weekend. There is no set trail – just plan your own when you have read about each one. The garden descriptions have been written by their owners and will include information about steps and stairs, difficult access, places to sit and rest or to enjoy the view and whether they welcome dogs. It means you can choose where to go, when you want.

There will also be a Gardeners’ Market in Cross Square, thanks to the support of St Davids City Community Council with stalls including plants, flowers, charcoal and bee products. Pembrokeshire Friends of Prostate Cymru will be there to promote their awareness programme, and EcoDewi will be on hand to talk about their projects, how you can get involved and all about their collaboration with St Davids Cathedral to create the new community garden.

St Davids City Open Gardens is very much focused on how gardens can benefit nature, as well as people, and we encourage wild gardens as much as traditional gardens. Local gardeners are really keen to encourage birds and insects into their gardens by attracting them with food-stations, watering places, bug hotels and nesting boxes.

“All these events look fabulous and will help make St Davids a much more pleasant place for wildlife and people, well done,” said Open Gardens Weekend patron Iolo Williams, the naturalist, wildlife TV presenter.