The flag will be flapping noisily on top of Sissinghurst Castle again this weekend as the heavy wooden gates creak open for the new season. For Mother’s Day on Sunday, March 18, or any day, Helen Geraghty remembers why this spot is a must.

No matter how many times you have counted the steps on the way up the Elizabethan brick tower at Sissinghurst Castle, you always lose count before you reach the top.

Maybe it’s that astonishing display of deep blue glass sunlit in the diamond leaded window to your left as you cling to the narrow handrail on the perilous journey to the top.

Maybe it’s the amusement factor of hindering the downward progress of animated American tourists, all far better informed about the glamorous life of former resident, the poet, novelist and gardener Vita Sackville-West, than we are.

Or maybe it’s the stop-off, halfway up the stairs, at Vita’s writing room, where she surrounded herself with artefacts she collected on her travels abroad and her photographs of her husband and her close friend, writer Virginia Woolf.

Either way, by the time you bump your head on the lintel and emerge at the top, stumbling into what is easily one of the best views of the Kentish Weald you will ever see, you have no idea if there were 10 steps, or 10,000.

As well as the castle, everyone knows about the gardens at Sissinghurst, largely divided into rooms of individual colours in the 1930s, in a way which has inspired gardeners ever since. But it is in the informal orchard and the lime tree walk at this time of year that you’ll see the hellebores and crocuses giving ways to daffodils, scillas and camellias.

If you are a keen rose grower, now’s the time to get along to Sissinghurst. Take some tips from the rose garden, before they are smothered in blooms, where you can see for yourself how the castle gardeners, some of the best in the business, have pruned and trained to give the artistic structure and form of the finished article.

However, if you visit in the summer, there are 20ft high individual scented climbing roses here, pegged against the sunny brick walls, you will remember for the rest of your life.

My small daughters and I came here once, on a whim in torrential rain, to escape some tedious family function, now long forgotten. I had an idea of heading towards the wooden boathouse, on the river, where there is some shelter from the elements and a seat looking down the water towards the white weather boarded gazbeo built in memory of Vita’s husband, diplomat Harold Nicolson.

But as we headed into the white section of the garden, home to entirely white peonies, lilies, foxgloves, hydrangeas, and a statue of the Virgin Mary, huge soaking drops trapped us, giggling into a corner all crammed under one umbrella.

The only other soaking wet fools around were a couple of Americans and a tallish, well-spoken man, who I reckoned by sight to be the present resident of the estate, Adam Nicolson, Vita Sackville-West’s grandson.

He pointed towards us, cowering in the downpour and said to his guests: “The great thing about this place is people love to come here in all weathers.” How we laughed.

Apparently it’s 78, by the way. Steps up the tower, that is.

DETAILS

Sissinghurst Castle is at Sissinghurst, near Cranbook. Admission is £10.40, £5 children.

The estate is open every day dawn to dusk for walks. From Saturday, March 17, the gardens with the castle are open daily except Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 10.30am to 5.30pm, until the end of October.

On Sunday, March 25, at 10.30am there will be a ramble and roast walk, as Sissinghurst’s Rangers lead a four-mile ramble over the estate, followed by a warming roast dinner in the restaurant using produce from the estate. The event costs £20.

On Friday, March 30, chef, caterer and smallholder Nicci Gurr will be staging a cooking demonstration at the first of this season’s farmers’ markets. The market runs from 11.30am to 3pm on selected Fridays through the season. The next market is on Friday, April 27.

On Saturday, March 31, at 6am there will be a dawn chorus bird walk at the castle. A £12 charge includes a breakfast roll. For information and event bookings ring 01580 710700 or seewww.nationaltrust.org.uk

OTHER TOP SPOTS FOR A MOTHER’S DAY OUTING

Scotney Castle, Lamberhurst

01892 893820

This idyllic landscape – a Victorian country house and gardens set against the backdrop of a fairytale-style Medieval castle – is inviting mums in free on Mother’s Day. A local brass band welcomes the special guests, who are also invited to have a refreshing free pot of tea in the tea room. 11am-4pm.

Emmetts Garden, Ide Hill, Sevenoaks

01732 868381

Spring bulb displays don’t disappoint at Emmetts Garden in March. This charming 19th-century garden reveals thousands of daffodils and egg-yolk yellow narcissi. Soft pink and cream camellia flowers are also on show, together with jewel-coloured crocuses, while Emmett’s many trees provide a delightful acid green canopy of fresh spring foliage.

Ightham Mote, Mote Road, Ivy Hatch, Sevenoaks

01732 810378

Once owned by medieval knights, this moated manor house is a wonderful place for mums to enjoy a relaxing day on Mother’s Day, while younger visitors make their mothers a special gift. Open 11am to 3.30pm, normal admission applies.

Chartwell, Mapleton Road, Westerham

01732 868381

After a wander through this incredible house – the former home of Sir Winston Churchill – treat mum to a Mothering Sunday lunch in Chartwell’s restaurant, which prides itself on sourcing fresh local ingredients, often directly from the kitchen garden. Lunch bookings on 01732 861161.

Seaside brocante, St Mary’s Hall, Oxford Street, Whitstable

01227 773037

Mothers and daughters can give their wardrobes a vintage chic with the looks on show at this seaside market. Decorate the house with old-school home-ware and pick up a few tidy trinkets from the jewellery section. The brocante is on Saturday, March 17, from 10am to 4pm. Admission free.

Hever Castle, near Edenbridge

01732 865052

Stroll through the emerging spring bulbs along Topiary Walk past Anne Boleyn’s Orchard, taking in carpets of daffodils and pockets of crocus and snowdrops along the banks of the moat. Then try the Mother’s Day menu at the Guthrie Pavilion restaurant. Three course menu £24, children £10, normal admission applies.

Chiddingstone Castle, Hill Hoath Road, Chiddingstone

01892 872746

A sea of yellow will transform the grounds as the Daffodil Spectacula takes over on Mother’s Day. The East Lawn will be littered with the spring flowers while the woodland will be covered in blue scillas, primroses and snowdrops. Mums can also try the home-made cakes and cream teas in the Victorian Tea Room. 11am to 5pm, normal admission applies.

Kent Life, Lock Lane, Sandling, Maidstone

01622 763936

All mums get free entry with a full paying child on Mother’s Day and can enjoy lunch with a cake at Dotty’s Tea Room. 10am to 3pm, admission £5, concessions £4, children £6.50, under-threes free.

Kent and East Sussex Railway, Tenterden Town Station

01580 765155

Take mother for a traditional ploughman’s lunch on the 1.15pm service or for a cream tea on the 3.30pm train. A two-hour return journey on one of the restored steam trains lets mum take in the Wealden countryside, interrupted only by the gentle chug of the steam engine. Booking essential and costs £22.50.