Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i Gardens Illustrated Magazine

Any plant that helps brighten winter days is good in my book. Hellebores, also called Lenten roses, are iconic flowers with cheerful blooms that are perfect for lifting the spirits even in the bleakest weather. Over the past couple of decades there have been many new introductions, however, some of the more highly bred ones have lost the delicate charm and sweetly nodding habit of the species. One of my favourites is H. torquatus, a dark-headed, rather wild-looking beauty, so I was interested to discover that it has played a part in Lorna Jones’s breeding programme of hellebore hybrids at Hertfordshire Hellebores. Turn to page 52 for 26 of her favourites. The best Christmas presents are invariably those that are chosen with great thoughtfulness, and what better way to package…

Earliest gardening memory As a five-year-old trying to increase the biodiversity of our lawn by blowing dandelions into the area. My father thought I was crazy as I explained that there was colour missing. First plant love Artemisia vulgaris – as I grew up near the Alps in Germany, where we would put artemisia in our shoes to keep feet fresh and energetic while climbing up and down the mountains. Also it makes a great tea and herb; a real giving plant. Who has inspired your career the most? Nature has always been my biggest inspiration. Great plant combinations, colour schemes, the right density and spacing – it’s all there. Yet mastering the ability to imitate nature is one of the most challenging things you can do. Horticultural heroes…

Festive foliage 1 Bound foliage After wrapping your present in brown or red kraft paper, use a natural jute cord to bind evergreen foliage in place in an attractive way. Use textured leaves, such as Viburnum rhytidophyllum, or classic and tactile Christmas evergreens, such as Pinus sylvestris. 2 Thuja wreath Make a circle from covered florists wire. Using a glue gun attach ten pieces of Thuja plicata, with each piece overlapping, until all the wire is covered. Loop baker’s twine around opposite sides of the wreath and tie securely at the base of the package. Repeat, looping the twine at the top and bottom and again secure in place. 3 Pine needle tassels Select a few tips of Pinus pinea, which have long, elegant needles, and strip into two equal-sized…

 South Korean artist Myoung Ho Lee repeatedly asks himself the question, ‘what is art?’ It is the inspiration for all his work and it was the starting point for the atmospheric Tree series he started back in 2006. “I like walking slowly,” he explains. “Then I start to absorb my surroundings as if I am a sponge. As an artist, it is the time when the question ‘what is art?’ becomes an empty white canvas.” “Why not take the canvas out of the studio and let nature paint on it?” Myoung Ho, who captured trees in South Korea for his first series, Tree and subsequently all over the world for his second, titled Tree… uses the white canvas as an active component in all his portraits. He says, “Why not…

Scented scillas While Narcissus ‘Paper White’ and oriental hyacinths are traditional choices for ‘forcing, you can prepare and grow a wide variety of garden bulbs indoors and create something unique. Here, I selected the muscari and scillas for their fragrance. In late winter they will fill a room with their sweet, musk perfume, conjuring a warm Mediterranean spring that is still months (and miles) away. The tight, yellow flowers of Cornus mas naturally occur in the same habitat as both the muscari and the iris, so it seemed a good choice for the twig supports. How to achieve the look Colours and shapes As soon as the bulb catalogues arrive I leaf through them, make an initial list and then construct a simple mood board by cutting out the small…

1 Tip top Shoogly is a good Scots word, which perfectly describes Takasugi-an (meaning tea house built too high). Designed and built by Japanese architect Terunobu Fujimori on top of the trunks of two chestnut trees, as a retreat and a tea house, it is very simply kitted out with tatami mats and a perfectly placed window overlooking the Japanese city of Chino. 2 Plane and simple This platform sits comfortably in the crook of a plane tree and is accessed by an elegantly sweeping staircase. Designed by Dominique Lafourcade in the gardens of Les Confines, near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, it is high on my ever-changing list of Perfect Places to Sit with a Cup of Tea. 3 Partridge pad Perching precariously in a pear tree, this may lack the sophistication…

One Man’s England by WG Hoskins (BBC, 1978) Mr WG Hoskins consolidated my feelings for England in the 1970s with his highly instructive two-part documentary series Landscapes of England for the BBC. It was based on 12 essays that expressed his intense love and knowledge of different parts of the country. As he says, ‘the English landscape as a whole has about a hundred landscapes inside it, like the minor themes in a great symphony, and uncovering their complex historical evolution with Mr H is a repeatable pleasure. The language is succinctly informative and effortlessly poetic – he is the poet laureate of England’s estate, as far as I’m concerned. Gardens are for People by Thomas D Church (University of California Press, 1955) It’s probably sacrilege to say it, but…

JINNY BLOM Jinny is a garden and landscape designer and writer. Nothing gives her greater pleasure than a quiet day’s immersion in reading about plants. On page 93 she takes a rare break from work and takes pleasure in reviewing her top desert island books for Gardens Illustrated. “I loved writing this feature. Time spent rummaging about in books is never wasted so it was a rare treat ” RICHARD BLOOM Richard’s award-winning photography regularly appears in many UK and foreign garden and lifestyle magazines. On page 36 he returns to his father Adrian Bloom’s garden, Foggy Bottom in Norfolk, where he began his first forays into garden photography over 20 years ago. “Foggy Bottom is a remarkable garden with year-round interest and such a variety of plants: there’s always…

For details of all stockists turn to page 102.…

In brief What Herbaceous perennials with nodding, bell-shaped flowers and glossy, semi-evergreen foliage. Single, double and semi-double flower forms exist in a range of pinks, purples, yellows and whites, often with speckled or spotted sepals. The coloured parts of a hellebore flower are not petals but sepals. In most other plants these are green and act as protection for the flower in bud. At the base of the hellebore’s sepals there is a ring of highly modified petals that have fused at the edges to form tubes that hold the flower’s nectar, and so are referred to as nectaries. Origins In the wild Helleborus species are concentrated in the Balkans, with a few species in northern Europe and one in China. Helleborus x hybridus are the result of labyrinthine cross-pollination.…

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1 HORTI HOOD 90 GROW HOUSE Make the best use of available garden space with these innovative grow houses, which attach to a fence or wall, allowing fresh produce to be grown and plants protected from the cold on a patio, balcony or in a courtyard. The hood can be lifted and secured for access to the plants, or to allow them fresh air on warmer days. The Horti Hood has the headroom to enclose a bench or greenhouse staging. Made from UV stabilised PVC with a strong, light and flexible fibreglass frame. Tel 01932 878570 Web organiccatalogue.com 2 CARPET BAGS Carpet Bags has been making luxury bags, luggage and accessories since 1974. Our unique bags are handcrafted in Norfolk using carpets with traditional patterns to create vibrant and timeless…

CHOOSING A TREE Keep it real Few things mark the start of Christmas better than filling your home with the scent of a real, freshly cut Christmas tree. But if you’re worried about the environmental impact a cut tree may have, remember that Christmas trees are grown as a crop and not taken from forests, so once this year’s trees have been harvested their site will be replanted with more trees. However, you should try to ensure you buy a tree that’s been grown locally. Not only will this reduce its carbon footprint, but it will also be fresher and in better condition than a tree that’s been transported and stored. If possible, try to buy direct from a member of the British Christmas Tree Growers’ Association or from a…

Eryngium pandanifolium ‘Physic Purple’ This majestic, sword-leaved eryngium is one of the largest in this genus. As the foliage rosettes increase, the height of the flower heads decrease until a large clump may only produce blooms at 2m or less. It is a striking architectural plant with vicious serrated foliage and flowers late in summer with reddish-brown, burr-like, flower heads. Easy to propagate from seed if it ripens before the frost, or offsets can be removed from the outside of large clumps. Height up to 2.5m. Origin South America (selected in Chelsea Physic Garden). Growing conditions Well-drained but moisture-retentive soil in sun. Hardiness rating RHS H4. Season of interest Late spring to winter (for skeletal structure). Hakonechloa macra In naturalistic plantings, grasses play a major part in providing strong, architectural…

Adrian Bloom (left) is just one in a long line of innovative nurserymen. His grandfather, Charles, ran a small market garden in Cambridgeshire and in the 1920s he helped his son Alan to set up a wholesale perennial nursery nearby. In 1946 Alan bought Bressingham Hall in Norfolk, moving his ever-expanding nursery, to its grounds and creating the renowned Dell Garden. During his lifetime, Alan introduced several famous cultivars at Bressingham, including Crocosmia‘Lucifer’. in 1966. Adrian joined the business in 1962, and is still involved, although today it’s his eldest son Jason who manages the nursery. The 17-acre Bressingham site is made up of six distinct areas, including the Dell Garden (curated since Alan’s death by his son-in-law Jaime Blake), Foggy Bottom and a new Winter Garden. Adrian’s middle son…

“I’m what the Americans call a dirt gardener. Wherever you end up, you have to learn the nuts and bolts first” When Jim Gardiner was 11 years old, his mother took delivery of a tree peony. “It was a golden-yellow Paeonia lutea var ludlowii. She took it out of the crate and I was smitten. I knew from that moment that I wanted to be a gardener.” Fifty five years later, he is on the brink of retirement from the position of RHS executive vice president after a lifetime in horticulture. It was not an obvious career choice for Jim to make, even though his mother was a keen amateur gardener. Both his parents were aero-engineers but he says, “I was fortunate that they encouraged me to follow my own…

1 Euphorbia x martini This handsome winter foliage plant is more compact than its popular relative, E. characias subsp. wulfenii, and therefore easier to accommodate in many gardens. The lime green bracts can appear in late winter and will last for many months. 75cm. USDA 6b-10b† . 2 Phlomis russeliana One of the most successful plants for winter silhouettes. Phlomis produces whorls of pale-yellow flowers over a very long season (from late spring to early autumn), then holds on to its seedheads throughout the winter. 90cm. AGM*. 3 Heuchera sanguinea ‘Palace Purple’ A useful, dark-purple cultivar that makes an excellent ground cover and provides year-round colour in the garden. In winter it looks especially lovely when sprinkled with winter frost. 45cm. RHS H6, USDA 3a-8b. 4 Tilia x euchlora The…

• MyGardenSchool has launched a new eight-week, online garden design course taught by Hilary Thomas, former head of garden design at Capel Manor. An Introduction to Garden Design, covers the essential elements for planning a garden from scratch, and is ideal for those who want help to design their own garden. £480, learningwithexperts.com • Two unpublished lectures by the late landscape architect and town planner Geoffrey Jellicoe – one on draughtsmanship and the other on the relationship of landscape architecture to architecture – can now be seen on the Landscape Architects Association’s website.landscapearchitecture.org.uk • Take a guided winter walk around Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s lakes and woodland and discover its historic features, such as the Shell Grotto, Lady Eglinton’s Well and the Greek Temple, by candlelight. 10 December, 2-4pm. Book at…

I’ve always bought books and have been an avid reader since I first learned how. The pleasure of taking a journey through an author’s unfolding words is a sublime experience. Reading, rather like drawing or making music, is a submersive experience and the absorption of information occurs on many levels simultaneously. Reading about finished gardens per se has never been high on my list of priorities, yet at a glance I have roughly 60 linear metres of garden-related books in the library. I clearly enjoy the subject. With gardening I want the pith, not the fruit. I need the facts, the soul, and the experience of the subject matter. If I could read about garden matters in bullet points, I’d be happy! Judging by my book choices, I seem to…

The Johann Strauss Gala returns you to the gilded ballrooms of old Vienna, where the flickering light from the candelabra twinkles and the Johann Strauss Dancers, in glorious costumes of the period, glide across the floor to Tales from the Vienna Woods, Roses from the South Waltz, Blue Danube Waltz, Radetzky March, Roses in Tyrol, Tic Tac Polka and many more of your favourite waltzes and polkas. The dancers will be joined by the Johann Strauss Orchestra, conducted by John Rigby, and celebrated soprano Corinne Cowling. For details of this and other events visit raymondgubbay.co.uk Tickets usually cost £40 and £29.50. To take advantage of this offer, call the box office of your nearest venue and quote ‘Gardens Illustrated offer’ BIRMINGHAM, Symphony Hall Sunday, 1 January…

One day the Cercidiphyllum will brush the pond’s edge with burnt caramel tresses. But at the moment it is unhappy Lachrymosity is possibly not a subject for the festive month but, riled by a recent conversation, it is impossible for me to let the year go without defending it. A good friend, during a slightly demi-mondaine luncheon (where I was a vicarious attendant), was asking where he could get a copper beech to help populate his new and unwieldy hillside garden. said that if he were I , growing it as a tree, a weeping form would be better, whereupon the woman of slight acquaintance at our elbows sniffed and uttered the one word that was the most damning in her vocabulary: Suburban. Luckily for her I was sober, and…