A CLUTCH of colourful gardens will be throwing open their gates over the Bank Holiday weekend to inspire the public.

Plant-lovers will be free to wander around the three private gardens - in Astley, Hartlebury and Stone on Sunday or Monday - and admire a host of unusual flora and features.

The open days are part of the National Gardens Scheme and money raised goes towards charities including MacMillan Cancer Relief. Louisa Arbuthnott in her Stone garden which is opening to the public for charity.

Christine Green, assistant county organiser for the scheme, said: "It's a very nice afternoon out and there are many devotees."

The two-and-a-half-acre Astley garden includes a pagoda bridge and a "tree high millennium sky deck" while its three-acre Hartlebury counterpart boasts more than 600 varieties of trees and shrubs.

And the walled garden in Stone features unusual brick follies and specialises in wall shrubs and climbers.

Owners Louisa and James Arbuthnott have spent 28 years transforming the three-quarters-of-an-acre plot.

Plants will be on sale at the three sites. Whitlenge House Cottage garden, Hartlebury, is open from 10am until 5pm on Monday and again on May 26.

Stone House Cottage garden, Stone, can be visited between 10am and 5.30pm on the same days while Astley Town House garden, Astley, is open between 1pm and 5.30pm on Sunday.