Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2018 i The English Garden

Clive Nichols One of the country’s foremost garden photographers, Clive has recently been named Photographer of the Year by the Garden Media Guild. He photographed Painswick Rococo Garden, on page 38. Katherine Swift Garden historian and writer Katherine Swift won the title of Garden Columnist of the Year at the Garden Media Guild Awards for her regular Last Word column in The English Garden. Chris Beardshaw Garden designer and TV and radio broadcaster Chris Beardshaw is known for exquisite planting schemes. He picks Britain’s best borders on page 65.…

‘DIGGORY’ Puffy outer petals give this snowdrop’s flowers an unusual rounded shape, easily marking it out from the crowd. ‘VIRIDAPICE’ An old variety that dates from the 1920s with green-tipped outer segments that look like they have been painted. ‘SPINDLESTONE SURPRISE’ A strong, vigorous yellow hybrid. The ovary is pure yellow, while the inner segments have a small splash at the tips. ‘ROSEMARY BURNHAM’ A sought-after virescent snowdrop with green outer petals and inner segments strongly marked with emerald green. ‘WALRUS’ Narrow outer segments flare outwards, stained green at the tips, and sheltering a frill of much shorter inner petals. ‘BLEWBURY TART’ Flowers are crammed with petals, heavily marked with green, made easier to see because of their unusual angle. ‘WASP’ Distinctive flowers have elongated pendant outer petals, with a…

YOU CAN BET THAT IF A GARDEN IS photogenic it is going to be somewhere you want to see for yourself. A walk around nurseryman John Massey’s garden at Flatridge Cottage in the West Midlands is always a memorable experience, one perhaps especially gratifying at this time of the year when our gardening spirits need a lift. Having a garden for all seasons is often the aspiration, and sometimes the professed achievement, of gardeners with both grand and less assuming plots, but it is a rare thing that’s seldom realised in any meaningful way. Not so here. Far from relying on the obligatory winter plants, using the usual suspects, and falling into winter gardening clichés, this garden in February is full of splendid plants, the crème de la crème. The…

Award-winning garden designer Charlotte Rowe (above) has a knack for transforming awkward spaces into dream gardens, and her work on this private garden in Surrey is no exception. She has transformed a rhomboid-shaped plot around a new-build house into elegant front and back gardens that belie their tricky site. What’s more, they look like they have always been there. The 650 square metre back garden responds to the brief from the clients, a well-known sportsman, his wife and two children. They wanted a garden that would meet all the family’s needs, including a soundproofed ‘drum room’, a large lawn on which to play football, a children’s trampoline, seating areas, a fireplace, some water, a pergola, a dining space and a barbecue. As the owner is well known, privacy from the…

The prospect of spring lifts the gardener’s spirits and it is with this thought of the year ahead that plans for planting a border can be made. Having looked at some key design tricks for borders with the help of five top garden designers in our January issue, we now turn the spotlight onto what to plant to create a perfectly balanced border, with expert guidance from some of Britain’s leading head gardeners. Advice on the best annuals to weave into a border, clever ways to stretch the flowering season and hints on making sure your plants are displayed to perfection, will all enhance the quality of garden borders.…

We start staking the borders at Waterperry at the beginning of May because we need the plants to be half to two-thirds of their final height to be ready for staking. After this the plants will grow through the staking and still look natural. Pay particular attention to staking plants that need to be standing tall to look at their best, such as asters and golden rod (Solidago). Some plants will stand up without support. Of all the perennials we grow here, Eupatorium, Phlox and lupins rarely need any staking. The most common problem with staking plants is that it needs doing when the ground can be hard and dry. This can be solved with a watering can’s worth of water and a metal poker. Water the ground where the…

We are undoubtedly blessed with a dazzling array of grand, historic and rousing gardens open to the public. These horticultural treasures, like works of art, become etched in our memories; sources of inspiration that ignite a passion to further explore, refine and develop our own gardens creatively. However, if we were to extract just a single canvas from the complex blend of characterful visions that epitomises the nation’s obsession with the art of gardening, then arguably it would be the flower border. Like all great artworks, the border is simple in essence; a collection of predominantly perennial plants choreographed to perform as a set piece, often within enclosures of walls or manicured hedges and frequently accompanied by shrubby punctuation to add drama and visual highlights. It references not only the…

The French concept of ‘terroir’ succinctly articulates how climate, soil and environment interact to influence the provincial character of wine. The term could also be attributed to the success of a notable Magnolia collection in Evenley Wood, a serene 60-acre garden nestled among lush pasture in rural Northamptonshire. Evenley is also a beautiful and elegant enigma. The reason being that almost all Magnolia species and varieties require neutral to slightly acid soil to flourish, yet the grassland enveloping the wood luxuriates in an alkaline loam, seemingly no good for magnolias and other plants of similar persuasion, as Evenley’s late owner and creator Timothy Whiteley knew only too well, having farmed the land for many years. But Timothy, a keen gardener who died in 2017, aged 85, had long noticed that…

PANSIES A traditional Victorian treat, potted up and brought on under glass for early spring colour. Keep deadheading to encourage new blooms. LILY OF THE VALLEY An Edwardian favourite. Gardeners would force a few dormant pips in mid-November for the Christmas dinner table. SWEET PEAS Emulate Victorian gardeners and train early-sown sweet peas up hazel poles in the greenhouse for a precocious breath of perfume. HYACINTH Bulbs for indoors are prepared, being chilled below zero to convince them they’ve been through a hard winter and trigger flowers to form. CHAENOMELES Bring branches of Japanese quince into the house and their buds will open to provide a breath of spring while winter continues outside. SHRUBS Bring potted shrubs into the house for an early burst of colour. Lilac (above) and magnolias…

What time frame is covered by the gardens featured in Dreamscapes ? The earliest photographs date from around 2006, when I visited Japan and took the photo which won the inaugural International Garden Photographer of the Year competition. There are also a couple of early images from that time, when I started photographing Cloudehill Gardens in Australia – the first garden I ever photographed. Many of the photos are more recent, taken over the past few years and even as late as April 2017. The cover photo was shot at Hillandale garden and nursery in New South Wales and seemed perfect as a dreamy garden scene with a pathway inviting you in. What are you looking for when you search for gardens to photograph? I’m looking for…

BLUEBELL ARBORETUM & NURSERY Specialists in hardy trees, shrubs and climbers including a huge selection of unusual and rare species and varieties. Expert advice is available from our helpful staff. The nursery is open to the public and surrounded by a lovely nine-acre woodland garden (RHS Partner Garden). Visitors are welcome all year round. Informative website and a reliable mail order service is available if you would like plants delivered. Tel: 01530 413700 sales@bluebellnursery.com | www.bluebellnursery.comAnnwell Lane, Smisby, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire LE65 2TA SPRING REACH NURSERY Spring Reach Nursery grows a fantastic range of clematis, trees, hedging, ferns, shrubs, fruit, perennials, roses, climbers and grasses. STARRING NOW Coprosma ‘Pacific Sunset’, Daphne ‘Jacqueline Postill’, Leucothoe, Hamamelis, Skimmia and Nandina Visit one of Surrey’s finest nurseries – a gardener’s paradise!…

Gardeners hungry for spring’s arrival take heart from the smallest signs that it is finally on the way and thankfully, February brings plenty of those. First out of the starting blocks are diminutive snowdrops, clothing woodland banks and borders such as those at Painswick Rococo Garden or Colesbourne Park, both in Gloucestershire, with their dainty nodding flowers. Tiny they may be, but this vast group of plants boasts a wealth of intriguing detail just waiting to be discovered. Then the earliest blossom starts to break, including on the magnolias at Evenley Wood in Northamptonshire, where it decorates bare branches with delicate sugar-pink blooms. Later-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and hyacinths start to make their way upwards, bursting out of the soil. This issue’s gardens are the epitome of spring optimism.…

COLOUR ME BOTANICAL 1 February – 29 April, Stobo, Scotland Scottish artist Sharon Griggs presents a collection of botanical illustrations that combine her love of the arts and nature. The exhibition, held in The Studio at Dawyck Botanic Garden, Stobo, aims to provoke a deeper appreciation of nature. Free admission. Tel: 0131 2482909; rbge.org.uk EASTON WALLED GARDEN BOTANICAL ART EXHIBITION 17 February – 11 March, Lincolnshire Three accomplished artists – Norma Gregory, Dawn Wright and Sue Vize – interpret the seasons through botanical illustration and painting at Easton Walled Gardens’ inaugural botanical art exhibition. Entrance fee is £7.50. Tel: 01476 530063; visiteaston.co.uk THIS EARTHLY PARADISE: TALES FROM MODERN DAY PLANT HUNTERS 22 February, West Sussex Ahead of Chichester Cathedral’s 2018 Festival of Flowers in May, Chichester College hosts three eminent…

“It is called coach botanising: roadsides are good places to see plants Duncan Coombs is always remarkably cheerful. He may describe himself as someone “passionate about gardening”, but it is clear he is a genuine people person, too, with an equal passion for teaching. Having spent most of his working life at Pershore College – now part of the Warwickshire Colleges Group – in Worcestershire, it is good to hear him talk about how the older he grows the more fascinated he is by how we disseminate knowledge. “I was four, I think, when I first realised I liked gardening,” Duncan recalls. “My grandfather had a large garden in Wimbledon,” he adds. By the time it came to deciding on a career, it was a horticultural apprenticeship with the Greater…

‘MRS THOMPSON’ This unusual snowdrop has the ability to fuse its ovaries and produce flowers with up to six outer petals. “Buy two and give one to a friend, then phone your friend each February and find out what theirs is up to,” says Arthur. ‘SOUTH HAYES’ This is a classic pagoda-shaped snowdrop with distinctive solid green markings resembling an exclamation mark. The flowers are not always uniform. “It is one of the most distinctive of all snowdrops, and named after the Oxford garden of Primrose Warburg, where it was found.” ‘CAROLYN ELWES’ Galanthus elwesii ‘Carolyn Elwes’, the first yellow elwesii snowdrop with inner segment markings — and often the tips of the leaves and spathes as well — shaded in a soft, lime-yellow. “Every collection has its rockstar, and…

Ashwood is unique among nurseries in that it grows on the premises many of the plants it offers for sale. There are several specialities, some part of National Collections, including Cyclamen, lewisias, hepaticas and perhaps most famously hellebores, all grown to the highest standards. When John started to collect hellebores, their breeding was in its infancy. He gathered together plants from those doyennes of hellebore breeding, Helen Ballard and Elizabeth Strangman, and embarked on a breeding programme that has snowballed over the past 25 years. At an early stage it was headed up by Kevin Belcher who, with John and other Ashwood stalwarts, is planning an extraordinary feat: to put on a stand of hellebores at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018. At Chelsea 2016, the gardening community gasped in…

We grow hardy and half-hardy annuals for the borders more or less all through the year at Great Dixter. We stagger the sowing times so as to cut down on the number of plants waiting to go out in their pots at any one time. Annual plants for the borders here need to be what I call a ‘good knitter’, fitting in well with other plants around them. We plant our annuals into well-composted soil in the borders most of the year as and when gaps open up, but our main planting times are May to June and then October to November. The suitability of the annuals to our soil and longevity of flower are important, as are impact, style and good proportions. Once the flowering season is over, letting…

Spring bulbs are indispensable for creating a succession of flowers. We use a mixture of alliums at The Inner Temple. The first to bloom is ‘Beau Regard’ in April, giving way to the one-week wonder ‘Purple Sensation’, followed by ‘Globemaster’ and ‘Gladiator’, before A. giganteum, A. cristophii and ‘Spider’ finish off the show in June. Our borders consist of pockets of spring, early- and late-summer flowering plants that drift through a framework of perennials. The spring pockets are planted with tulips, alliums and wallflowers. When they have finished, Aquilegia, foxgloves and sweet rocket (Hesperis matronalis) amble over them. Once the foxgloves have finished, the pockets are replaced with dahlias, Cleome and salvias. During the transition between early and late summer, Heliopsis ‘Summer Nights’ combined with phloxes, geraniums and salvias fill…

Widely forced for Christmas, with a little care Hippeastrum can be kept for years. After blooming, remove the dead flower spike, water and feed with general purpose plant food. The leaves will slowly die back. Allow the bulb to dry out then begin the process again. For indoor blossom, cut young branches 30-45 cm long and plunge into water, ideally in their entirety for a few hours, before making a deep split in the bottom of the twig, to allow maximum water take-up. If you reserve a few in a bucket of cold water kept in a cool area, you can stagger their flowering for a longer display. For a change, try pussy willow. Cut lengths with swelling buds around mid-February. Indoors, plunge them into tepid water and cut off…

The Wild Dyer by Abigail Booth, Kyle Books, £16.99 It is the Picts that one might readily associate with woad, that age-old plant responsible for the blue tattoos adorning the tribe the Romans encountered in about 83AD. Along with madder (Rubia tinctorum) and meld (Reseda luteola), it formed the basis of textile colour for the next 1,800 or so years. In The Wild Dyer, this ancient knowledge of botanics is helpfully updated by Abigail Booth, who, with partner Max Bainbridge, forms the designer-maker pair Forest+Found. Here is instruction for those who would look at their own gardens and wild spaces and wonder how the colour in all that flora might be harnessed in fabric. Cue comfrey, rhubarb and Rudbeckia, as well as foraged sources such as rosehips, sloes and hawthorn,…

SNOWDROPS AT BENINGTON LORDSHIP GARDENS Benington Lordship, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG2 7BS Tel: 01438 869668 | www.beningtonlordship.co.uk The ruins of a Norman castle and a Victorian gatehouse folly serve as a spectacular backdrop to the stunning display of naturalised snowdrops at Benington Lordship. Every February the snowdrops appear on the slopes in the moat and all around the seven acre garden. The walled garden will be open to visitors to showcase the impressive collection of two hundred snowdrop varieties. Beautiful views over surrounding parkland and a lakeside stroll complete a visit. Snowdrops and hellebores for sale. Homemade soup, tea and cakes. Free parking. OPEN: Daily 7 February-4 March 2017, 12-4pm. Admission £5, children free CHIPPENHAM PARK Chippenham, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 5PT Tel: 01638 721416 | Website: www.chippenhamparkgardens.co.uk Boasting possibly the greatest…

“Whatever I am doing... I always find myself drifting back to look at the silent hives Some years you can smell it before you see it – a smell of greenness in the air, after long months of winter absence. Sometimes it is a sight – the early morning sun striking the corner of the window frame as the earth starts to swing back towards the sun. Sometimes it is a sound – birds singing again in the darkness before dawn. Spring: every year there is something that makes you suddenly think ‘Yes! It’s coming’. I have spent much of the winter indoors, writing. But now I can bear it no longer. I go up into the garden to check on the bees. I have been feeding them since before…

THE RED HOUSE The Red House has two façades, each facing a straight avenue. The ogee curve of one façade is mirrored in the stained-glass windows. Visitors can venture inside, where two rooms are revealed. The first is plain and minimalist; the second had wooden panelling and contains a tiny fireplace. THE EAGLE HOUSE The two-storey Eagle House dates from around 1750 and was possibly designed by Thomas Robins. Below, a deep, arched alcove is set into the hillside; above is the folly, painted pinkish-red with white frieze and battlements. The vaulted lower part was all that remained, but the upper level was restored in 1988. THE EXEDRA The curved wedding-cake façade of the Exedra beside a circular reflection pool is the most dominant of Painswick’s follies. Roger Standley reports…

If many people all start talking to somebody at once, it is difficult to distinguish the thread of the conversation. The same is true with selecting colours in a border. Good use of colour is finding shades that both complement and support each other. There is always a temptation to fill the border with lots of plants to create the most impact but the opposite is often needed. Repetition and rhythm are powerful allies and they are enhanced by a restricted planting palette. Strong performers and large, rhythmic clumps of perennials are far more likely to impress and give a natural, effortless look compared to creating a kaleidoscope in your border. Once the plants for the border have been selected, early spring is all about laying strong foundations for the…

Bulbs in the green are bulbs for planting in active growth. Order yours today and receive 20% off when you spend £30 or more with Sarah Raven. HYACINTHOIDES NON SCRIPTA (BRITISH NATIVE BLUEBELL) Plant these native bluebells in any collection of trees and shrubs and they will look like they have been growing there forever.›Flowering late April-May. 25 bulbs £12.95 50 bulbs £23.95 100 bulbs £42.95 Code: 260077 ERANTHIS HYEMALIS (ACONITES) These are like miniature spring anemones crossed with water lilies. Beautiful planted in lawns and borders in spring, they also make superb displays when cut and floated in a shallow bowl. Flowering February-March. 25 bulbs £13.95 50 bulbs £24.95 Code: 209146 GALANTHUS NIVALIS (SINGLE SNOWDROPS) Snowdrops are an essential addition to your winter garden, clothing banks in swathes of…

Over the centuries there can be few moments gardeners have enjoyed more than surprising friends – and rivals – with something extraordinary out of season. Persuading a plant to perform when it should be dormant has always required ingenuity, but forcing – the horticultural equivalent of a magician’s conjuring trick – is also immensely satisfying. It is an ugly word. Few of us like to think of forcing anything, but usually all it means is to give a plant exactly what it wants ahead of schedule. Perhaps we should regard it more as encouraging them. Manipulating the seasons is nothing new. In their cloistered monasteries, medieval gardeners noticed that plants sheltering behind walls seemed to grow better in that couple of degrees extra warmth, where the bricks acted like miniature…

Chicory, one of the Victorians’ most important salad ingredients, needs a little forethought. “We force chicory in pots in the cactus house,” says Ceridwen Davies, garden supervisor at Dyffryn Gardens, a National Trust property in the Vale of Glamorgan. “We sow chicory ‘Witloof’ in summer, planting out the seedlings in June and July. The plants grow with rather plain looking leaves and develop a large root. In autumn we lift the plants, cut off the tops and store the roots in a cool place. Many years ago they would have been laid in trays of sand and put in the root store; I put them in the fridge. In late autumn and winter I plant a few in large clay pots, put an upturned pot over the top and cover…