Isabella Plantation

April 30, 2024

It’s very easy to visit Richmond Park regularly and completely miss the Isabella Plantation. The deer are kept out of this part of the park, allowing for a wide variety of trees and a more garden-like feel.

Principally a woodland garden, it is in spring that the many flowering shrubs and trees come to the fore. There are witch-hazels, camellias and magnolias in early spring. In April and May it is the turn of azaleas and rhododendrons. Get ready for a technicolour tour.

The garden is home to the National Plant Collection of Wilson 50 Kurume Azaleas, introduced to the west from Japan in the 1920's by the plant collector Ernest Wilson. If you want to identify them all this website has the definitive list.

The Isabella Plantation sits in a natural dip and running and still water throughout is a major feature.

Most of the water features are man-made, water is pumped from Pen Ponds and the streams were dug out in the 20th century. The lower part of the Plantation is naturally boggy and the garden plants here reflect that with asiatic primulas, gunnera and this rather fantastic Darmera peltata.

Isabella Plantation has been subject to some significant investment in recent years. Ponds have been cleared of silt, the remaining invasive Rhododendron ponticum has been cleared out, along with rampant skunk cabbage. And the paths and loos have been upgraded. If you’ve got a blue badge you can park very close by and all the paths are acessible with a wheelchair. Dogs on leads are allowed.

Most people know that I’m not a big fan of rhododendrons, particularly in smaller gardens. Where they’ve got space to do their thing though they look majestic. I like seeing them in dark groves where they can look moody and mysterious, particularly on a gloomy day.

And just occasionally you come across some very delicate flowers, completely different. Unfortunately I cannot find the name of this one.

Crocus time

February 29, 2024

when you come across a lawn of crocuses in their tricolour array of white, yellow and purple it can stop you in your tracks

Snowdrops galore

February 1, 2024

December and January can sometimes feel completely dead in the garden. So when the first snowdrops appear in February it is easy to get excited about a tiny white flower. Barely taller than 15cm, but usually in clumps, snowdrops can make galanthaphiles and photographers fall to their knees to get a better look.

Contrary to popular opinion the common snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis, is not a native plant but has become naturalised in woodlands and gardens across the whole of the British Isles. Originally it hails from further south in Europe, from Spain to Ukraine.

Snowdrops are bulbs, generally flowering between January and April. February is the peak month in the south of England. They cross-pollinate easily hence the huge number of varieties and the zealousness of galanthophiles to spot the next new snowdrop.

Christopher Lloyd thought “all of us need more snowdrops in our gardens”. I agree. Snowdrops grow well under deciduous trees where there is not too much competition from grass. The shady, bare spots next to hedges are also good and snowdrops will do well in areas where they will not be disturbed and can distribute their seeds on bare ground.

Generally, only the single-flowered varieties are fertile and will spread by seed, the doubles are usually sterile. Snowdrops planted on drystone walls may self-seed themselves on the face of the wall.

Snowdrop bulbs are easily available to plant in the autumn. They usually take a year or so to settle down and flower. I’ve had more success planting snowdrops “in the green”. Last winter my dad gave me several handfulls from his own long-cultivated clumps and almost all of them have come up in my garden this winter.

Although I really like Snowdrops I’m not that fussy about what sort I grow. Galanthophiles will pay hundreds of pounds for the rarest specimens. Good for them.

“Wild” snowdrops are a bit like bluebells, you’ve got to know where to look for them and once you’ve found them, keep it a secret. I’ve been collecting photographs for some years and these are from private gardens, public gardens, churchyards, woodland and parks.

If your collection of snowdrops doesn’t quite fill your field of vision they also look good planted in a woodland or winter garden. Try them with hellebores, ferns, cyclamen, winter aconites, arum lillies, primroses and pulmonaria.

Many open gardens have collections of snowdrops, sometimes in winter gardens, often dotted around. The best known place to see them is Welford Park near Newbury; others include:

Angelsey Abbey, Cambridgshire

Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire

Stowe, Buckinghamshire

Painswick Rococco Garden, Gloucestershire

2023, a year in photos

December 1, 2023

I googled “what will 2023 be famous for?” There were some forecasts - war, climate catastrophe, financial turbulence and technological change - so far, so predictable. But a fashion trend for blackened teeth thankfully hasn’t come to pass (or did I miss it?).

The year started with a famously cold January. It was a near record of eight days in a row of freezing temperatures. Whilst Wimbledon Common looked fab in the heavy frost the weather took its toll in the garden. Many people lost plants, in particular Hebes, Erigeron karvinskianus and Penstemons. They were hard to replace initially as the frost had affected so many gardens as well as suppliers in the UK and Europe.

One answer to this is to plant a winter garden, full of plants that look their best at this time of year. I went to visit Wakehurst Place which has a fairly new winter garden. It didn’t disappoint and partly as a response to this we have developed a couple of winter borders in my local park.

Magnificent magnolia in Bushy Park in March

A persistent easterly wind in March and April meant that spring felt like a long time coming but finally, after a few false starts, I got on a plane for the first time in three years to go to the garden island of Madeira.

There were gardens aplenty on the island but one of the most fascinating sights was the ancient laurel forest on the north slope. Subject to frequent fog and mist the trees were already mature when the Spanish arrived in the 14th century. It is an eerie place and, as I found, it’s very easy to get lost.

May was a busy month. The weather warmed up a little and I found a great new bluebell wood in the Surrey Hills. The sun also came out for the Chelsea Flower Show and there was only one garden everyone was talking about - Sarah Price’s iris garden. It wasn’t overrated, almost worth the ticket price on its own.

Also in May I finished planting a new garden in Wimbledon. Throughout the year I have continued as a volunteer gardener in my local park. Luckily the summer wasn’t quite as scorching as 2022. The ox-eye daisies in a wildflower part of the park were stunning in June.

All through 2023 I have been learning how to use a 3D design software package. It has been challenging to say the least but considerable progress has been made. I’m not sure I’ll ever reach guru status, but it’s good to get to a stage where clients can see their prospective gardens in 3D and even walk through them. I haven’t had a client yet say they prefer the old hand-drawn way of doing things.

In July I caught up with a friend who I’d helped with the layout of her garden ahead of the installation of a new greenhouse.

In August there was an overload of garden visits to Ham House, Waterperry Gardens and the best garden I’ve seen in a long time, Le Jardin Plume.

Whilst in France I also visited the garden festival at Chaumont and the formal gardens at Chenonceau.

Autumn took a long time to arrive, an unexpected heatwave followed by what seemed like endless rain, and then finally, some spectacular colour. Piet Oudolf describes a fifth season, somewhere between summer and autumn. The garden at the Hepworth Wakefield is a great example of how good a garden can look at this inbetween time.

Allium sphareocephalon and Perovskia in October

And my photographic year ends there, somewhat abruptly. The big camera is out of action and the camera on my phone doesn’t really cut it as a replacement. Normal service will be resumed shortly, hopefully in time for some winter photography.

Gifts for gardeners

November 15, 2023

It’s back, the only reasonably sensible list for gardeners of all types, no cashmere pyjamas or pink suede gauntlets here…

These are two of my favourite coffee table purchases of the year. I enjoyed my visit to Le Jardin Plume so much I bought the book. Yes it is in French but you don’t need to be fluent to get the gist of what’s going on. The photos tell the story, and the photos are fab.

I’ve been going to Kew Gardens since I was knee high to a grasshopper but only went into the Marianne North Gallery for the first time earlier this year. All of the 627 paintings - part botanical illustration, part travelogue - are reproduced here. Marianne North visited 13 countries and four continents in the second half of the 19th century and she paid for the construction of the gallery to house all her paintings. A major vanity project? And so what.

Sarah Price’s garden at the 2023 Chelsea Flower Show

Well no list is complete without a ticket to the Chelsea Flower Show. Is it expensive, is it over crowded, is it worth it? Hell yeah. The RHS runs one or two other shows which are all a bit cheaper, a bit less less busy and, well, you get what you pay for….

Looking for an easy way to boost your garden’s attractiveness to wildlife? Just add water. Birds, insects and mammals will all find a small pond very appealing. It doesn’t have to be deep, or have a fountain or even require digging a big hole.

A shallow water bowl or bird bath will do the job. A few pebbles and a couple of plants will finish it off nicely.

Who doesn’t enjoy a nice garden visit with a fabulous lunch thrown in? Top of my list is Gravetye Manor (still waiting..), The Newt was fab and the cafe at West Green is a little more modest but no less tasty.

Most gardeners are suckers for tools, especially really good quality ones. I’ve mentioned Felco secateurs before, as well as Showa 370 gardening gloves, Silky Fox folding saws, Hayter lawnmowers and Henchmen ladders.

And they also love seed trays, garden twine, small terracotta pots, compost (but so awkward to wrap…), magazine subscriptions, bird boxes, seeds and cake of course.

But nothing says I love you like a bespoke cedar greenhouse…

And finally, what not to buy a gardener unless they have specifically asked for it - a plant. You have no idea how difficult it is to accommodate a rose that’s the wrong colour, or an inappropriately sized tree, into a carefully curated garden.

RHS Harlow Carr

October 26, 2023

A visit to Yorkshire to see friends meant a long-awaited trip to the RHS garden at Harlow Carr.

It’s a much more compact garden than Wisley, making it much easier to get around and see almost all of it. The garden was looking pretty good in the very bright and low autumn sunshine (not ideal for photography). It was a bit too early for good autumn colour in the arboretum but there was plenty going on elsewhere.

The long herbaceous borders were still looking colourful. I expect the very warm September had a lot to with extending the season.

Verbena bonariensis, Rudbeckia and Kniphofia

There’s a small stream running through the gardens and just uphill from this is a more traditional mix of shrubs, small trees and perennials, all looking great when back-lit with the low sun.

One of the things that surprised me and my southern view up gardening up north is how successful the salvias were. The gardens seem to showcase a lot of different varieties, from the stauesque Salvia Amistad and S. guaranitica Black and Blue, to the more shrubby Salvias such as Hotlips, Nachtvlinder and others I did not recognise. Who knew thse natives of the Americas, thought to be tender and prone to frost could thrive in this environment?

There was also a tropical garden, full of bananas, the regular Musa basjoo and the Ethiopian variety Ensete ventricosum. Admittedly these were accompanied by many coloured foliage plants like Coleus and the autumn colour of Cercis and Dogwoods. My friends are tasked with finding out if the bananas are left in all winter.

Towards the lowest point of the gardens there is what looks like a white border. In autumn the grasses are the highlight, but I would like to see it when more of the perennials are in flower. The only flower on show in October was this stately Leucanthemum.

Harlow Carr is just outside Harrogate so it is no surpise to find all the catering is provided by Bettys. The queues are long so take a flask or do as I did, and get a friend to wait in line (thanks Rachel…).

Harlow Carr - the gardens are open every day except Christmas Day

Bettys - they say there’s no need to book for the tea rooms but the long queues suggest otherwise…

The Hepworth Wakefield Garden

October 16, 2023

I was not overly hopeful of enjoying the Hepworth Wakefield Garden. Often gardens that seem good looking on social media are somewhat disappointing in real life. And the long journey up the M1 had been dreary and wet, compounding my low expectations.

So it was a really pleasant surprise to find that it was all it was cracked up to be and, not only that, the sun came out just as I arrived.

The garden was designed by Tom Stuart Smith and according to thee garden’s website the “design draws inspiration from its unusual setting between 19th-century red-brick mills and a 21st-century art gallery. It echos the striking, angular shapes of the David Chipperfield-designed gallery while harnessing a naturalism that reflects Barbara Hepworth’s deep connection to the landscape.”

Construction began in 2019 and is planted with 14,000 perennials, 120 metres of beech hedge, 52 trees and shrubs and 60,000 bulbs.

In autumn the main features of the garden are the brilliantly-leaved Rhus typhina, grasses and various asters, all looking really good backlit by low autumn sun. I can’t say that Rhus is a favourite plant of mine, it has a tendency to sucker and spread, but in autumn the colour is hard to beat.

I sometimes find it hard to persuade clients that it’s worth planting for autumn colour and form. Despite the much-lauded value of grasses and seedheads it’s not until people see gardens like this in autumn that they become convinced.

Pennisetum and Salvia (formerly Perovskia) Little Spire

One plant I was delighted and surprised to see in a public garden was the bright blue Aconitum. I’m not sure which variety it is but it’s stunning in the half shade under an oak tree. Most Aconitum are poisonous and although some have AGM status they should always be handled with care; ingesting even a small amount can make you seriously unwell and can cause death. Here it is placed well back in the border and does not overhang the lawn or paved areas.

There is a small cafe in the garden (closed when I was there) and a cafe inside the gallery. The garden is free to enter, though you do have to pay for parking close by on the other side of the River Calder.

It was well-worth the long schlep up to Wakefield (on my way to meet up with friends really…) and proved every bit as good as it looks on Instagram - @katymerrington. It is beautifully maintained by cultural gardener Katy Merrington and a team of volunteers.

Chaumont International Garden Festival

September 28, 2023

The chateau at Chaumont-sur-Loire has been famous since its construction in the 16th century. It is one of the most outstanding chateaux of the Loire and is on UNESCO’s world heritage list.

The gardens did not really exist until the late19th century when it was landscaped in the “English” style. Buildings were demolished, new curvilinear paths built and copses planted along with some notable specimen trees.

Parts of the historic grounds are planted with herbaceous borders in simple schemes of blue, purple and white.

Since 1991 Chaumont has become known for its International Garden Festival. Some 25 show gardens are on offer this year, each designed around the theme of resilience. The gardens are in place from April to October and are designed by landscape architects, artists, environmentalists and artists.

Demain tous ira bien - based on the book A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

Le chant du sel - a garden in recovery after a fire

Hortus spei - jardin de l’espoir - based on the Jungle Interieur in Nantes

Tropical planting between the show gardens

As well as these temporary gardens, there are an increasing number of permanent gardens in the grounds.

Chateau Chaumont is a vast exhibition of historic chateau with furnished apartments, huge art gallery for sculpture and installations, historic grounds and outbuildings, gardens and show gardens. It’s so large its difficult to do it justice in one day.

I enjoyed the chateau, historic grounds and the art installations. The show gardens will prove disappointing if you are expecting something along the lines of the Chelsea Flower Show. It would be interesting to see them several times over the course of the six months, but it did not look like they had been revisited by their designers. However, it is probably a more sustainable way of doing show gardens and they are all designed to be walked through, not just viewed from the edge.

There are lots of catering provisions within the grounds but it is expensive and the queues can be long. Take a picnic.

Chaumont-sur-Loire its open all year ound, from 10am. It’s not a visit to be rushed.

Le Jardin Plume

September 28, 2023

Le Jardin Plume is the result of nearly three decades of design, implementation and gardening by owners Sylvie and Patrick Quibel.

Across the Mirror Pond to the wavy box hedge, shielding the Feather Garden

Located in rural Normandy, 12 miles east of Rouen, the garden has been created from farmland and an old orchard.

The starting point of the design was a line drawn from the centre of the house to the farthest boundary. The square reflecting pool and the main paths lead from it. Some of the old apple trees have survived storms and fit into the grid of borders but many have been replaced. The grids themselves have been defined by two passes of the lawnmower and were originally inspired by letting the grass grow long.

Over time the hedges were planted and shaped, sometimes in a deliberate attempt at geometry, at other times they’ve become dependent on the growth of the plants and the pruning skills of the gardeners.

I was surprised to learn that Derek Jarman’s garden at Dungeness was a source of inspiration. Not so much the shingle and nuclear power station but the merging of the garden with the wider landscape, in particular using grasses and the apple trees to soften the boundary between the garden and the surrounding farmland.

Devil’s Bit Scabious and Ragwort in the Prairie Garden

Aside from the hedges, apple trees and cloud-pruned box in the Spring Garden, the garden is planted with herbaceous perennials, grasses, biennials and annuals. The Feather Garden has the most exhuberant planting in late summer - Sanguisorbas, Rudbeckia, Calamagrostis, Thalictrum and Salvias.

Anemone hupehenis Hadspen Abundance and Anemone var. japonica Pamina in the Flower Garden

The Summer Garden is still going strong and the Autumn Garden is just getting going. I’d love to see the garden in spring when the Prairie Garden is bursting with naturalised Camassias.

From the Prairie Garden back to the house

From the Mirror Pond towards the Summer Garden and the house beyond

I’d planned my holiday in France around a trip to this garden and it was definitely worth it, the best garden I’ve visited in a really long time.

Please note there is a nursery and a loo but definitely no catering facilities. The garden is generally closed between midday and 2pm (naturally) and is about 6 miles from the nearest shop so come prepared for a leisurely picnic in your car. Any tickets bought in the morning are valid for the afternoon as well.

Le Jardin Plume - the last day is Sunday 15 October 2023.

Ham House

August 2, 2023

It’s been a few years since my last visit to Ham House. This time, amazingly, I went in the house and had a quick whizz round. Lots of paintings and tapestries, fab windows and staircase and really good views of the surrounding 30 acres. Mature trees mean you can’t see the Thames even though it’s only a stone’s throw away.

Ham House was built in 1610 by Thomas Vavasour, an Elizabethan courtier to James I. It was then leased, and later bought, by William Murray, a close friend and supporter of Charles I. The house achieved its greatest period of prominence following his daughter Elizabeth's second marriage—to John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale.

The design of the garden was considered as important as that of the house and has a strong French influence. There are formal avenues of trees radiating out from the house and the garden is divided into a number of smaller, though still very large by modern standards, walled areas.

The property was donated to the National Trust in 1948 but renovation of the gardens did not begin until 1975. The works have focused mainly on the Wilderness, the kitchen garden, known as the Orangery, grass squares called The Plats and the Cherry Garden. In recent years there has been a concerted effort to increase biodiversity with large areas of the grounds planted with wild flowers.

In early August the most interesting features are the Cherry Garden and the Kitchen Garden. The latter is the most recent to be renovated and the focus is on producing fruit and vegetables for the cafe and flowers for the house. By no means does this cover the whole of the original Orangery garden.

The garden is laid out in a grid pattern with corners often marked with these topiaried variegated hollies and many of the paths are lined with lavender or teucrium.

The garden was buzzing with wildlife, mainly bumble bees and butterflies (I spotted Red Admiral, Large White and skippers). This pigeon was helping itself to the borage.

I don’t know if it was just the time of year or a deliberate design intention but the kitchen garden was overwhelmingly orange and purple - Hemerocallis, Calendula, Dahlias, Lavender, Agastache, Teucrium, Salvias - and it was very effective. The orange-red brick amplified the effect.

In contrast, the Cherry Garden is a lesson in restraint, definitely a less is more approach. Although the layout of pleached tree avenues and parterre of box topiary and lavender is very 17th century French in style, all is not as it appears.

Archeological investigations in the 1980s showed no signs of a formal garden on this side of the house. Happily the National Trust has decided to keep this as a formal garden rather than be puritanical about keeping to the 17th Century design.

It is a designated as a quiet space and the limited palette of plants - pleached limes, yew hedges, box topiary and lavender - was very restful and quite modern in feel. The structure and evergreens mean this would still be a still place even in winter.

The slanting sun in late afternoon in the second half of summer gave all the edges a silvery glow, almost, but not completely, caputured in my photos.

I didn’t try the cafe although it looked very nice, situated in the kitchen garden. No doubt the fare is standard NT stuff.

There’s also a second hand bookshop (quite good, but not as extensive as the one at Mordern Hall Park). There seemed to quite a few outdoor activities for children but most seemed to be having fun just running around.

There’s parking at Ham Street Carpark or you might get lucky and park for free on Ham Street. It’s a bit of a schlep from a railway station.

If you’re out for the day you’re just a short walk from The Palm Centre (access via Cut Throat Alley….). and Petersham Nurseries (more restaurant than nursery).

Thanks to Wikipedia for a potted history.

Mellow yellow

June 29, 2023

If there’s one colour I’m asked to exclude from a planting scheme it’s yellow. I don’t really understand why. Ok, you may not want to wear yellow or paint your bedroom yellow but outside in the garden it’s a fab colour.

Yellow appears frequently among wild flowers, think fields of buttercups, dandelions, gorse and broom, primroses and flag irises.

Tulipa World Friendship and Tulipa Yellow Spring Green

In the garden spring starts with yellow crocuses, daffodils of course then the showstoppers, tulips. My preference is for the pale yellow Tulipa World Friendship and I like to pair it with stronger yellows like Tulipa Yellow Spring Green and white Tulipa Hakuun. With plenty of green the colours are fresh and zingy but not over the top. The weaker spring sunlight means the colours don’t look washed out.

Geranium Orion, Phlomis russeliana, Cephalaria gigantica, Thalictrum lucidum

As spring moves into summer the combination of blue with yellow really stands out. It’s still a fresh look and here there are several different yellows with different heights and forms combined with blue Geranium Orion, Buxus sempervirens and a Euphorbia.

As summer progresses and the light gets warmer the yellow combination with blue becomes more saturated, particularly in late afternoon sun.

Yellow is fully capable of standing on its own in a garden. Luciano Giubbelei surprised the Chelsea Flower Show in 2014 by mostly using yellow flowers in his best in show garden. It helped that these Lupinus Chandelier are large, architectural flowers. Rudbeckia, and of course yellow roses can do the same thing.

Aside from blue, yellow’s opposite colour, yellow can be paired with complementary colours such as white and orange for a sophisticated and subtle mix. When I planted this Surrey garden I only ordered the burnt orange Helenium Moerheim Beauty. It was a happy surpise when it appeared I had Helenium Butterpat in the mix too.

Helenium Butterpat and Helenium Moerheim Beauty

Of course you have to break the rules sometimes so pairing yellow with red makes quite a statement. This is a different part of the same Surrey garden.

Foenculum vulgare, Rudbeckia Deamii and Potentilla Gibson’s Scarlet

And then of course you can go full on tutti-fruitti…. This is the in the same garden. Luckily the client was up for a vibrant colour palette and in high summer it looks fabulous.

Helenium Moerheum Beauty, Helenium Butterpat, Rudbeckia fulgida var. Deamii, Echinacea purpurea Magnus, Verbena bonariensis, Crocosmia Lucifer

I’m not the only garden designer letting rip with yellow. This is from Tom Hoblyn’s Chelsea garden in 2019.

So be daring, have some fun, the sun always shines on yellow flowers.

Lisa Cox's Monmouthshire Garden

June 27, 2023

The phrase “Cobbler’s Children” applies equally to garden designers as to other professions. My own garden is a case in point. However Lisa Cox has finally made a start on her own garden in Monmouthshire. Mind you it has taken seven years to get here.

Most designers will admit that applying their skills to their own gardens is not easy. Apart from narrowing down lots of options Lisa had the tricky job of acknowledging the tremendous views of the Monmouthshire countryside whilst trying to make an attractive and secluded dining terrace.

Well I could witter on about design intent, inspiration from eclectic sources, the trials and tribulations of the build process or the unexpectedly difficult weather, but I’ll leave that to Lisa when she puts this on her own website. Just enjoy the results.

I had three really good days here enjoying Lisa and Phil’s fab hospitality (Lisa is an amazing cook and Phil pours a mean beer) while we muddled our way through getting to grips with some 3D design software.

Borders set in the terrace create layers of planting

A change is as good as a rest they say. So while we were working hard it was nice to pop outside for a coffee and my camera when I wanted a break.

Ethereal Knautia macedonica and Geum Totally Tangerine

Ilex crenata balls behind Lavendula angustifolia Hidcote

The view down the lawn towards the house

The unusual choice of colour for the house was inspired by a visit to Arne Maynard’s house and garden, Allt-y-bela, nearby.

Saturated summer colours - red, orange and purple

Some of my favourite things about Lisa’s garden - it helps you enjoy the view more. The view is vast and almost dizzying - the terrace is intimate and helps you feel grounded yet also part of the landscape. That’s garden design waffle for it’s a nice space to spend time in.

Elegant steps deal with the different levels across the site

The terrace is close to the house, handy for trips back to the kitchen, but also feels like a separate space and even a few short steps makes it feel like a destination.

There’s lots of space for plants - if this was the entire garden you wouldn’t feel short changed. Keeping it simple makes for a relaxing and elegant space.

This is just the start of the garden design. Next up is the driveway and a pond. I’m looking forward to seeing those.

Who says it rains all the time in Wales?

Lisa Cox Garden Designs - yes there was cake, home made croissants actually, and lots of excellent coffee. This garden is not open to the public.

Trelissick

June 1, 2023

The house and gardens of Trelissick are sited above the Carrick Roads estuary on the south coast of Cornwall. The house was built in about 1750 and has been owned by the National Trust since the 1950s.

The water tower with squirrel weather vane

As you would expect in Cornwall there is an abundance of rhododendrons and azaleas enjoying the acidic soil and high humidity. At the end of May however, most of the flowers are over, only a few remaining.

Trelissick holds the national collections for Photinias and Azaras. As I didn’t realise this until after our visit I didn’t pay particularly attention in looking out for them.

The main lawn is at the heart of the garden and centre stage is the giant Japanese red cedar, planted in 1898. Around the lawn are deep borders of perennials such as irises, hemerocallis and more exotic plants such as ginger lillies.

There are many paths leading away from the main lawn. One takes you through an area known as the Dell and on towards the King Harry Ferry across the River Fal.

Others take you further along the Trelissick Peninsula through glades of Camellias, Azaleas, Pieris and Rhododendrons. If you walk far enough there tree ferns aplenty and good views of the river.

The gardens are extensive and I’d love to say we saw all of it - sadly we missed the new orchard and tennis lawn and of course we didn’t go in the house. The lure of a scone with cornish clotted cream was too strong. And just as I was wondering … there was a sign, “Jam first”.

The tea shop and other shopping facilities were as expected, but there was china and the teabag wasn’t drowned in a bucket-sized teapot.

This wasn’t a part of Cornwall I had been too before but it was lovely. Good weather and excellent hospitality from Jennifer and Nick made a great long weekend.

Chelsea 2023 - Sarah Price's Garden

May 26, 2023

It’s not often a show garden at Chelsea is universally popular. Despite being heavily featured on the tv coverage there were still gasps of delight and audible wows as visitors saw it for the first time.

And I think this is the first time I’ve showcased a single Chelsea garden, that’s how much I liked it.

The most striking thing about the garden when you see it for the first time is the amazing display of Benton irises. Cedric Morris was an artist and also bred irises ast his Suffolk home, Benton End. “Cedric Morris was famous for his flower paintings and iris still lifes. You can see that he really understood the plants, but he was also an incredible gardener, who influenced Beth Chatto. He introduced 90 different cultivars of bearded iris,” says Sarah.

The irises, like the garden at Benton End, languished for many years. A former head gardener at Sissinghurst, Sarah Cook, began the long process of hunting them down and breeding them, a process which is now carried on by others.

Like all the gardens this one has had to prove its environmental credentials and the builders claim it has the lowest carbon footprint of any garden at the show. All the materials are found and/or recycled and much of the garden will be relocated back to Benton End at the end of the show.

This garden is about much more than the irises however, It is also an evocation of the old garden at Benton End. Other plants such as the trees and grasses are designed to appear semi-wild. The colour palette of pink, blue and yellow is taken from two of Cedric Morris’s paintings (Cotyledon and Eggs, and The Eggs).

A couple of things really appealed to me: the overall colour palette which is muted but has depth too, and changes colour in different light; and the overall feeling of light and space. The only other garden which had this quality was the Transcendence garden by Andrew Wilson and Gareth McWilliam. Although there was lots to look at it didn’t feel busy or cramped, there was no need to fill every square inch of space with plants (or structures, or funiture or other stuff…).

Chelsea was as crowded as ever, if not more so. It’s not helped by the fact that some designers make it difficult to get a good view of their gardens, with everyone scrunched up into a few linear metres. Even Monty Don has said some of the gardens can only be viewed, and understood, from inside the garden. Some designers, in my opinion, are repeat offenders when it comes to not making their gardens fully viewable to the paying visitor. Come on RHS, please sort this out.

Yes, it’s still a good day out and just about worth the money, but it is becoming an endurance event.

Sarah Price’s Nurture Group garden

True blue - flowers for a sunny border

April 28, 2023

Blue flowers are perennially popular. I am asked for blue flowers probably more than any other colour. There are very few true blue flowers; most are a variation of purple or pink and I think it these tints and hues that make blue flowers relatively easy to combine either with themselves or contrasting or complimentary colours.

These plants are all well-suited for a sunny border. In gardening terms that means a border that receives sunlight for at least six hours a day. Some will tolerate a bit less but you won’t see the best of them.

When starting a new border I like to start with the tallest and/or most structural plants. A clematis like this Romantika will clothe a fence in midummer without taking up a lot of space. You could also use C. Jackmanii or C. alpina for a paler blue in late spring.

There are not too many blue-flowered shrubs to choose from. This Hibiscus will flower for a long time and can be pruned if it gets too large. An alternative would be to choose a Ceanothus but as they don’t like being pruned you need to be careful to select one that will fit your space at its maturity.

Next I like to think about taller perennials. This combination of Iris and Echinops will give you tall blue flowers from May through to August. If you’re lucky the Echinops may give you a second flush or flowers later in the summer. I also like Agastache Black Adder but I’m afraid I’ve long given up on Delphiums and Lupins as they are just too popular with slugs and snails. The taller Agapanthus are also good value, one of my favourite is A. Navy Blue.

Aquilegia Blue Barlow straddles the space between taller and shorter perennials but it is a great shot of darker blue in April and May. Other blues in this space could include Penstemon Alice Hindley and Nepeta racemosa Walker’s Low.

On to lower, more spreading perennials. Geranium Rozanne was voted plant of the century by the RHS and really it’s not hard to see why. It flowers from May to November and doesn’t need to be dead-headed or cut back until spring the following year. And my personal favourite, Salvia nemorosa Caradonna. Ok, it’s quite purple, but I love the black stems and it will often give a second flush if dead-headed.

Scabiosa Butterly blue is one of my favourite blue flowers and these, like all blue flowers, are really popular with pollinators.

Spring bulbs in blue are a bit harder to find. I like purple crocuses and they will spread quite slowly through the border. Muscari, grape hyacinths, are a really nice bright blue. The best blue bulbs are Camassias but as these prefer damp soil and dry sunny border is not always the best place. Of course there are bluebells. Unless you really like the Spanish hybrids I think native bluebells are best shown off in woodland rather than a sunny border.

These are just a slection of some of my favourite blue flowers, you may have a few of your own. Getting a good combination of height, flowering times and plant and flower forms will make your border look more interesting. And of course, you’ve heard it many times before, unless you’re planting up a pot, do try and get several of the same type to make a good show.

If all blue is a bit too much then it is an easy colour to combine with others. Try yellow or bright green for a zingy spring feel, orange for a fully saturated late summer look. And pale or bright pink works for a more traditional scheme. Or throw out the rule book and mix in reds, oranges and purples for a surprise.

Blue, pink and white in a client’s garden

Palheiro Gardens

April 27, 2023

If Palheiro Gardens were the first gardens you were to visit in Madeira you would be forgiven for thinking they were set on a fair old slope with more than one or two steps. If, however, you’d already been to some of the other well-known gardens on the island you’d agree with the the original owner, the 1st Count of Carvalhal, that this was a pretty flat site, ideal for a garden.

Formerly known as Blandy’s, the Palheiro Gardens in Madeira were set out in the early 1800s. Appearing somewhat English in layout with lots of garden rooms, its location just 300 miles off the coast off the coast of Morocco and 500 metres up the side of an old volcano means that a wide range of plants can be grown - from old English roses and London Planes to Himalayan camellias, American magnolias and redwoods, a Brazilian candelabra tree and Australian proteas.

Cineraria, usually grown as an annual in the UK

Initially the garden was most famous for its collection of cammellias, thought to number in the thousands. There are nowhere near as many now and at the time of my visit had mostly finished flowering.

Cantua buxifolia - the Peruvian magic tree!

Madeira is famous for its mild and sunny climate, described as a year round spring. The gulf stream ensures a steady sea temperature of 18 degrees and the height of the old volcanoes means there is no shortage of rain. Plant growth is rapid and to a sun-starved Englisher visiting in April it can seem a bit wierd to see roses, camellias, crocosmia, asters and wisteria all in flower at the same time. Truly, the holy grail of gardening - all year round colour - can be achieved here.

Clianthus punecius - aka lobster claw or parrot’s bill

There were very few labels on the plants so it’s been fun trying to identify many of the wierd and wonderful plants in the garden. The guide book did give a list of the most interesting plants at the back so I’ve spent a lot of time googling them.

Madeira itself has a rich vein of native species, including this Geranium maderense which can grow up to 1.5m tall. In the UK it is not hardy but grows almost everywhere on Madeira.

Moschosma riparium or Tetradena riparium

Streptosolen jamesonii - the marmalade bush

The Sunken Garden is the most English part of the gardens. The parterre is bisected by paths with a small lily pond in the centre. It’s a good place to park people who don’t fancy the longish downhill walk (and uphill return) to the tea rooms.

Telopea speciosissima - the New South Wales waratah

Auraucaria angustifolia, aka candelabra tree

Wisteria and a lone delphinium in the main garden

The tea rooms are in an old orangery and if you don’t mind the slow service the home made cake is worth the wait. There were china cups, saucers and plates mind, something we found more often than not in Madeiran cafes, along with English spoken everywhere - by tea shop ladies, supermarket shelf-stackers, petrol station cashiers, pharmacists….

Of the three gardens we visited on Madeira this was my favourite. It was the least busy, the cheapest and the most interesting in terms of layout and plant/flower content. It’s also the easiest to get around if you’re not so mobile these days.

Palheiro Gardens - https://www.palheironatureestate.com/palheiro-gardens.html

Wakehurst Place winter garden

February 7, 2023

Prompted by a friend’s account of her visit to Wakehurst Place in December I finally made it out to the High Weald of West Sussex. I’d gone primarily to see the Winter Garden, but as it was my first visit I also walked quite a long way round the very hilly parkland.

The winter garden viewed from the croquet lawn

Wakehurst is owned by the National Trust (free entry if you’re a member) but run by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It is home to the Millenium Seed Bank which is also managed by Kew. There’s a 16th century mansion (currently closed for renovations) and nearly 500 acres of gardens and parkland.

Betula utilis jacquemontii and Cornus sanguinea Midwinter Fire

The Winter Garden was renovated and replanted four years ago and is the main reason for visiting at this time of year. So what exactly is a winter garden I hear you ask? It’s a term that’s been in use since the 19th century in Britain, most often applying to large glass houses designed for music and entertainment. Often these were located in cities usually visited in winter, like Bath, Brighton and Harrogate.

Cornus alba Sibirica and Phlomis russelliana

These gardens fell into disrepair with WW1. Winter gardens became more associated with the use of trees with coloured and decorative bark like birches, Japanese maples and cherries. By the middle of the 20th century notable gardeners were using plants with coloured stems like dogwoods and willows.

The first garden designed with winter in mind was made at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden in the early 1950s. Winter gardens were also being developed in France at roughly the same time.

Designers of winter gardens tend to focus on form, scent and colour. The form is provided by structural evergreens like yew, Skimmia, Mahonia and the bare shapes of deciduous trees. Scent is surprisingly easy to find in winter gardens from flowers like Daphne, Sarcococca and Hamamelis. Many trees have colourful bark like Betula utilis var jacquemontii and plant stems like Cornus sanguinea Midwinter Fire and Salix alba Yelverton become brighter with colder weather.

Add in some early bulbs like snowdrops and ground cover like cyclamen, et voila, a winter garden…

Calamagrostis x acutiflora Karl Foerster and Vibunum davidii

If it was that easy everyone would have one, right? I think this is why most people only get as far as one or two Hellebores and maybe some snowdrops.

Many of the plants that feature in winter gardens are associated with woodland or woodland edges. This means they depend on quite a lot of light early in the year (before tree canopies close over with leaves). Sun also highlights the bright colours of leaves and stems when they are backlit, so a dark shady corner is not going to give you the best winter winter garden.

However, some winter garden plants like Yew, Sarcoccoca and Mahonia don’t mind a bit of shade so all is not lost if that’s the only space you’ve got.

More important is to make your winter garden accessible in winter. The delicate scents of winter flowers like Daphne and Chimonanthus are only noticeable on still days and you will want to get close up without getting covered in mud.

Winter gardens are becoming a popular way of attracting visitors at an otherwise quiet time of year so there’s no shortage of them.

Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire

Sir Harold Hillier Garden, Hampshire

Angelsey Abbey, Norfolk

Harlow Carr, Yorkshire

I’m afraid it was the usual sort of mass catering on offer. They’d run out of sausage rolls but at least the flat white was good.

Wimbledon Common in winter

February 5, 2023

It’s been a cracking winter in London, if you enjoy landscape photography. The prolonged period of frost in December, followed by the snow, produced some lovely conditions for photography. And another period of frost in January was a bonus. If this sounds like a wierd thing to celebrate, especially as every sub-zero day adds considerably to your energy bill, last winter there were no frosts at all. A whole winter of grey, wet dreariness…

“Good” wintry conditions are obviously frost and snow, ideally coupled with fog or bright, low sun. Its amazing how different the same scene can look in different conditions.

Runner up Wimbledon and Putney Commons Art on the Commons - Winter

The Newt in Somerset

September 28, 2022

The Newt has been on my bucket list for quite a while, longer in fact than it has been called The Newt.

Now an hotel and spa, it has been the home of garden designer Penelope Hobhouse and plant colourists Nori and Sandra Pope who all knew it as Hadspen House. The current owners, Koos Bekker and his wife Karen Roos bought the house, its gardens and the rest of the estate in 2013.

The house and garden have been redesigned by Patrice Taravella on a seemingly money-no-object basis. There is a huge focus on growing apples with the estate making its own fine cider. Produce from the farm and garden feature substantially on the menus.

The elliptical walled garden is famous and now features many heritage apples grown as espaliers and cordons within an apple-themed maze. The rest of the garden tells the history of gardening including geometric Islamic garden designs with rills, Victorian formal bedding displays, a Baroque garden to more modern grass borders, wild flower meadows and some flower gardens with colour themes as a nod to the previous endeavours of the Popes.

I’ve a feeling there’s not much of the garden Penelope Hobhouse and the Popes would have known, with the exception of the Walled Garden. However, you wouldn’t know it’s a relatively new garden. No expense has been spared in using the finest quality materials from oak sleepers, wrought iron railings (miles of it), Blue Lias limestone steps (from Hadspen quarry?), an extremely large, mature cloud pruned yew hedge and mature espalier and fan-trained fruit trees.

A couple of examples of this are the gourd tunnel, designed just to show the beauty of different varieties of gourds and pumpkins (some are netted for safety), and my favourite feature, the aerial walkway through ash and beech trees to a rather nice cafe.

And yes, even though we’d had an amazing lunch, cake was eaten - rosewater and pistachio if you’re wondering (we did at least share).

The colour gardens are some of the newer features here, with separate rooms of red, white, blue and green plants.

It was a chilly grey day in late September when we visited but the grass borders were looking amazing.

And the Cottage Garden was still looking good. The whole of this garden is irrigated so there was no evidence of any drought damage. And neither were there any weeds, amazing.

The Newt is just a few minutes from the A303 and a couple of miles from the destination town of Bruton. It would be quite hard to fit in the Hauser & Wirth garden at Bruton if you’re just visiting for the day (we didn’t manage to see all of the garden at The Newt) and having lunch as well.

A casual visit to the Newt is difficult unless you have a very good friend who is a member and/or are staying overnight at the hotel. I’m told the hotel and spa are rather fabulous and worth every penny.

There are restuarants, cafes, a farm shop, home wares shop, cider press, a museum, a newly recreated Roman Villa, more than enough to keep you entertained for quite a while.

A big thanks to Nicola for a fabulous day out, lunch and driving all the way there and back.

West Green House Gardens

May 2, 2022

This is a garden I have visited many times and it never disappoints. The undoubted highlight of a spring visit is the mass display of tulips, principally in the walled garden.

The colour and form of the tulips is kalaidoscopic to say the least, but look closely and you’ll see there is definitely method in the seeming madness. Many of the tulips are sold by the Gardens, either as single varieties or in collections.

Despite many of the tulips being listed on the website it’s still quite hard to recognise them all.

This is probably my favourite combination in the whole garden. It’s reminiscent of the Alice in Wonderland tea garden, although it is at the opposite end of the site.

In the vegetable garden the tulips are used as bedding plants. The painted plant supports add some colourful height.

At the farthest end of the garden a former topiary lawn has been replaced by this mass planting of tulips. The remaining box balls are a solid contrast to the flightiness of the tulips.

Not all of the garden is devoted to tulips in spring. The damper meadow areas are planted with narcissi and snake’s head fritillaries,.

The walled garden also contains a lot of box, outlining the formal beds and adding some height and structure. The box seems to be recovering well from box tree caterpillar.

The tea shop has two outdoor seating areas. This is my favourite, a sheltered spot with an Alice in Wonderland theme of red and white. Very nice tea and cake by the way.

Although this is a private garden you can enter for free with a National Trust membership card. You will have to pay £4 for parking unless you can find a spot on the road just outside the gardens.

I can’t recommend these gardens highly enough.

https://www.westgreenhouse.co.uk/