The big skies and the extraordinary light of East Anglia make it unlike anywhere else in Britain, and offer the most amazing natural conditions in which to create gardens.

The twenty-two gardens selected for Secret Gardens of East Anglia celebrate the culture, beauty and diversity of the counties of Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex, and all deserve to be better known.

Introduced by eminent East Anglian plantswoman Beth Chatto, the gardens appearing on these pages are brought to life by the award-winning author and photographer team of Barbara Segall and Marcus Harpur. From each garden we can learn about the creator's style, their talent for exploiting the genius loci, and the specific challenges and rewards they have encountered.

Featured gardens include:

-COLUMBINE HALL A moated garden with a series of green rooms
-HELMINGHAM HALL GARDENS A gem of a garden hidden in its own moated island
-KIRTLING TOWER A field of daffodils for a Tudor gatehouse
-RAVENINGHAM HALL Exquisite planting in the RHS president's private garden
-THE MANOR HOUSE, FENSTANTON Garden rooms on Capability Brown's private estate
- ULTING WICK Thousands of tulips against a backdrop of black wooden barns
-WINTERTON LIGHTHOUSE A lush yet restrained garden framing a lighthouse
-WYKEN HALL Vines and roses around an Elizabethan manor house