An exotic paradise, tucked away in the Suffolk countryside, is opening its doors to the public this summer.

Henstead Exotic Garden started life as a field of nettles but is now, at two acres, one of the largest of its kind outside of the West Country and Cornwall.

Garden owner Andrew Brogan created the ambitious project from scratch eight years ago. He said: “It looks as though the garden is many years older than that due to the sheer size of the specimens. We have giant bamboo plants that are 30ft tall and with three inch wide canes.”

The garden is being extended this year and visitors are being invited to follow the progress. There are already more than 100 large palms, groves of bananas, 200 bamboos, two streams, three ponds with hundreds of fish, and a 30ft wooden walkway leading to a Thai style elevated pavilion.

Tea is served in gingerbread style summerhouse and the garden backs onto a 12 acre wood concealing a ruined walled garden.

The plot has been featured on Gardeners World and in various magazine articles, as well as on the front cover of large coffee table style book, published by the AA, called Inspirational Gardens. The EADT’s Suffolk magazine even used it as a backdrop for a fashion shoot last year.

Mr Brogan said achieving the right balance for the garden has been a learning process, adding: “It has been a struggle with such a garden bearing in mind our cold winters, especially the last two, including the coldest December for 100 years.

“I picked exotic plants from cooler parts of the world and this theory has been well and truly tested.”

The next of five open days at Henstead Exotic Garden, located in Church Road, Henstead, near Beccles, is on August 28, followed by another on September 25.

The garden will be open from 11am until 4pm and admission is �3.25.