Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2016 i Gardens Illustrated Magazine

January is a great time for planning holidays and this issue we make a whistle-stop tour around the world, visiting some inspiring places and talking to some remarkable gardeners. These include an idiosyncratic plant nursery in Portland, Oregon, USA, and a beautifully planted garden in the breathtaking location of Fisherman’s Bay in New Zealand. Matthew Biggs talks to Ulf Nordfjell, Sweden’s leading garden designer, about great hardy plants that will thrive in cold climates, and we profile Ron Finley, the LA-based guerilla gardener who is transforming communities by teaching about the power of growing your own food. Sometimes taken for granted by those of us who live here, England is a fabulous destination, with some of the finest gardens in the world, including Great Dixter in East Sussex. To mark…

APRIL 2-3 Great Dixter Spring Plant Fair, UK. International specialist nurseries.greatdixter.co.uk 8-10 Les Fêtes des Plantes de Printemps, Château de Saint-Jean de Beauregard, France. Europe’s finest nurseries. domsaintjeanbeauregard.com 21-24 Harrogate Flower Show, UK. Celebrating spring planting.flowershow.org.uk 22-23 Gardens Illustrated Festival, UK. See above, right. gardensfestival.com MAY 5-8 RHS Malvern Spring Festival, UK. Show gardens and plants. rhs.org.uk 6-8 Beervelde Garden Days, Belgium. parkvanbeervelde.be 13-15 Les Journées des Plantes, France. Courson, France’s premier event, in its new home of Chantilly. domaine-de-courson.fr 24-28 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, UK. The UK’s premier garden event. rhs.org.uk JUNE 2-6 Bloom, Ireland. The largest garden festival in Ireland. bloominthepark.com 3-5 Gardening Scotland, UK. Garden inspiration. gardeningscotland.com 3-5 Holker Garden Festival, UK. Gardens, and crafts. holkerfestival.co.uk 4-5 Bowood House Garden Festival, UK. Plant…

First plant love Growing seedlings in modules in the back garden of my childhood home. I loved the variation in the plants I grew. I soon took over most of the regular gardening tasks, staying outside until sunset. Who has inspired your career the most? I’m lucky to have worked with some very supportive organisations (Royal Parks, RBG Kew and English Heritage). I’ve been mentored by many outstanding colleagues over the years, each encouraging me to take the next step. Horticultural heroes Maybe less horticultural, but William H Whyte, the urbanist, with his methodological way of looking at how people interact with the urban landscape around them. Favourite landscape that has influenced you I’m a modernist at heart, so I would say the water gardens of the Barbican Centre in…

Plant geometry I chose the geometric shape of this glass dodecahedron as it both magnifies and frames the symmetric forms of the Echeveria and other small sculptural succulents, whose intricate details are best appreciated close up. Although these water-retaining plants prefer hot, dry and well-drained conditions, they can thrive in a partly open terrarium, such as this one, in which the air is still able to circulate and keep humidity levels relatively low. How to achieve the look Plants The three Echeveria plants are the stars of the show. Tones of cool greens and blues are linked by the red accents on the leaves. The Sedum will colonise happily between the rocks and other plants, and the Senecio provides height at the back of the terrarium. When it grows too…

1 Arbutus arizonica ‘Chiri’ A small tree, collected by Sean in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeast Arizona, which has richly coloured exfoliating bark. It’s drought tolerant but is not affected by the higher moisture levels that might damage the related madrones. 15m. RHS H6, USDA 5† . 2 Pittosporum patulum With black leaves on upright stems, this small tree from New Zealand might look dead to some. “One for goth gardeners,” says Sean. 4m. USDA 7a-8b. 3 Dahlia ‘Cistus Purity’ A white double dahlia with dark leaves and a tiny spot of red. 1.5m. USDA 9. 4 Eucalyptus perriniana Known as the spinning gum tree because its leaves, when dead, detach from the stem and can spin around the twigs. Fast-growing, but can be coppiced. 10m. USDA 7a-11. 5 Datisca…

1716 Lancelot Brown born at Kirkharle in Northumberland, the fifth of six children of William Brown, a yeoman farmer, and Ursula, who had worked in the house on the Kirkharle Estate. He is christened on 30 August. 1732 Employed as a gardener on the Kirkharle Estate, where he is taken under the wing of employer Sir William Loraine and learns his trade. 1739 Moves south, and within two years is appointed head gardener at the great emblematic garden of Stowe, working for Lord Cobham under landscape architect William Kent. Here he extends the Grecian Valley in what will become his distinctive naturalistic style. 1750 Begins his first major commission at Croome Court (above), remodelling the house, draining the marshy grounds, resiting the church and creating a lake on ‘as hopeless…

• KLC School of Design, London, has set up the Design Changes Lives Foundation to provide funding and expertise to improve buildings and gardens as places for healing and care. It will also include a programme in schools to inspire young designers and bursaries for students with limited means to study at KLC. klc.co.uk • A new exhibition, The New American Garden, which examines the work of landscape architects Wolfgang Oehme and James van Sweden has opened at National Building Museum in Washington DC. It features 52 photographs of their residential, civic and commercial projects. Until 1 May, 2016; nbm.org. • Birkbeck Garden History Group is hosting an Introduction to Garden History study day on 30 January at Birkbeck University, London. £20; book at eventbrite.co.uk • The Department for Communities…

THE LONDON COLLEGE OF GARDEN DESIGN Our one-year Garden Design Diploma led by Andrew Wilson is firmly established as one of the leading qualifications for those seeking a career in garden design. Classes take place in the Orangery conference facilities at the world-famous Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. As well as expert tuition from practising professionals, our students are exposed to inspirational visits, free graduate seminars and RHS show opportunities. We also offer the unique six-month Planting Design Course for those with some experience in landscape architecture, horticulture or gardening who want to extend their skills in this important aspect of garden design. Inspiring courses for the garden professional, all in the heart of London. Tel 01483 762955 Web lcgd.org.uk Email info@lcgd.org.uk OXFORD COLLEGE OF GARDEN DESIGN The OCGD offers the…

1 Tea towel (RRP £9) This 100 per cent cotton tea towel features a bespoke illustration from print artist Hannah McVicar, a regular contributor to Gardens Illustrated . Non-subscriber offer price £8.10, plus p&p Subscriber offer price** £6.30, plus p&p 2 Suede apron (RRP £50) A waist-fitting apron in chocolate-brown suede with an adjustable belt and four pockets for your tools, twine and mobile phone. Non-subscriber offer price £45, plus p&p Subscriber offer price** £40.50, plus p&p 3 Garden kneeler (RRP £35) Our waxed cotton and suede kneeler will help protect your knees. Non-subscriber offer price £30, plus p&p Subscriber offer price** £27, plus p&p 4 Anti-bramble gauntlets (RRP £35) Tough, leather, cotton-lined gloves with long suede cuffs. One size. Non-subscriber offer price £30, plus p&p Subscriber offer price** £27,…

• 100 plant recommendations from award-winning designer Tom Stuart-Smith • How best to naturalise snowdrops • Tree ferns and shade lovers in an intriguing stumpery garden • One of Italy’s most romantic gardens ON SALE 5 FEBRUARY Save money when you subscribe to the digital edition – see page 30. Also in selected Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Tesco stores, as well as WHSmith, and all good magazine retailers.…

ALI BELL Ali is a fine art graduate and designer, passionate about wildlife gardening and indoor plants. Based in Dorset she is currently developing her own wildlife garden while thinking of creative ways to bring plants into the home. She shows how to style terrariums on page 44. “I would love everyone to try making a terrarium. Developing your own mini eco-system is a magical way to connect with nature.” MATTHEW BIGGS Matthew is a Kew-trained gardener, writer and broadcaster. He has travelled extensively in Scandinavia, observing the native and garden flora, and is fascinated by plants that survive in harsh conditions. On page 50 he looks at some of the best of these for UK gardens. “It was intriguing to compare my experiences with the plant selection chosen by…

In brief Name Great Dixter. What Garden designed in the Arts and Crafts style for Nathaniel and Daisy Lloyd by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Extensively replanted by the Lloyds’ son Christopher, it includes many distinct areas renowned for their exuberant planting, including the High Garden, Peacock Garden, Solar Garden, Barn Garden and Sunk Garden, as well as a vegetable garden, an Exotic Garden in what was originally a rose garden, a Topiary Lawn and several less formal meadow areas, including the Prairie and Orchard Garden. Where Northiam, East Sussex. Size Six acres. Soil Clay. Climate Temperate, with an average, annual rainfall of around 75cm. Hardiness rating USDA 8. After visiting Great Dixter, the late Christopher Lloyd’s garden in East Sussex, I still stagger out of the place high as a kite…

In brief What Tough ornamental plants for cold locations. Origins Sub-alpine zones worldwide. Season A range of plants that offer year-round interest. Size Small shrubs to medium-sized trees. Conditions Full sun to part shade. Hardiness ratings RHS H5-H6, USDA 5a-7b. Hostile climates come in many forms. Gardeners may face long snowy winters with a short spring, sub-zero temperatures when the ground freezes for months, exposed headlands or hillsides where the wind chill factor takes its toll, or garden at altitude in northern climes with a growing season measured in a few short weeks. Nothing quenches our desire to create a garden, whatever the challenges, though it is often a prerequisite that we share the same resilience as our plants. The hardiness of many woody plants is affected by the moisture…

1 Pimelea prostrata ‘Anatoki Blue’ This tiny-leafed native plant grows as a low mat with intense blue-grey foliage and pretty white flowers in summer. 15cm. USDA 8a-9b† . 2 Astelia nervosa ‘Alpine Ruby’ The foliage is a good red in summer, and even richer wine-red in winter. From the Catlins area of New Zealand. 80cm. 3 Echeveria elegans Native to Mexico this attractive succulent thrives in tough conditions with minimal water. 10cm. AGM*. RHS H2, USDA 9a-11. 4 Acacia cognata ‘Limelight’ The most asked-about plant in Jill’s garden, it looks like Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Stree t. It prefers a well-drained position, and only tolerates light frost. 1m. USDA 8a-10b. 5 Libertia ixioides Native to the Banks Peninsula, this has wonderfully colourful foliage in full sun. Also looks great…

James Basson Garden designer In general, garden design is moving towards a more ecological, sustainable approach. We are looking to use more original species in our plant choices rather than the past obsession with hybridisation. Equally, with hard landscaping, designers want a more sustainable, locally sourced material that will sit comfortably within a designed landscape. Annie Guilfoyle KLC School of Design This isn’t so much a prediction as a New Year wish for greater awareness of hellstrip planting. Widely practised in the USA, it involves planting up that unattractive area between the pavement and the road with tough, ground-cover plants. It’s such a brilliant way to brighten up the urban landscape. Andrew Fisher Tomlin LCGD* One of the big trends now taking space in our design psyche is the revival…

RHS LESSONS FROM GREAT GARDENERS By Matthew Biggs An introduction to the lives of 40 eminent horticulturists and the lessons we can all learn from the gardens they created. Reviewer Rory Dusoir is a Kew-trained gardener and writer. Matthew Biggs briefly profiles the lives and careers of 40 influential horticulturists, ranging from Somai (putative creator of the fabled rock garden at the temple of Ryoan-ji in Japan), through André Le Nôtre, to Geoff Hamilton. Each entry includes a box full of bullet points; the ‘lessons’ that we can apply to our own gardens. Inevitably, the narrow choice of 40 gardeners has led to some prominent omissions, and no doubt each reader will have their own view on who should have been included – but the author has taken care to…

Some Banksia resemble a peeled pineapple, some a device for cleaning chandeliers In December I mentioned that there was a nursery down the road that specialised in Australian natives. At that moment I may not have been entirely well disposed towards the idea, but barely was the ink dry on those sentiments when hubris came to bite me on the rear end. I had a mail from a plant connoisseur in Long Beach to say that that nursery was having a sale, and how excited he suddenly was at the prospect of visiting me. Now, he had been putting off his visit for about the same amount of time as I had been putting off investigating the nursery in question, and the fact that he was finally prepared to commit…

Rudbeckia subtomentosa ‘Henry Eilers’ This willowy American perennial is still in flower in early November in my Cotswold garden, mingling with tall grasses such as Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Karl Foerster’ and ‘Transparent. Each small yellow daisy has quilled petals set round a neat, brown-button middle. However, you do have to place it carefully because this ram-rod straight daisy is subtle in form and could easily get lost in the depths of a border. Named after the retired nurseryman who spotted it close to a railway line in southern Illinois, it’s one of my favourite autumn gems. Height/spread 1.5m x 90cm. Origin Bred in Illinois, USA. Growing conditions Easy in any soil. Hardiness USDA 4a-8b. Season of interest August – October onwards. Epimedium…

1 Malus hupehensis Christopher thought this ‘a most beautiful tree… its blossom is prodigious – usually pure white, but pink-flowered variants occur and are available.’ Flowers May-June. 10m. AGM*. RHS H6, USDA 3b-9b† . 2 Rosa ‘Raubritter’ Bred by Kordes in Germany, this charming, hybrid from ‘Macrantha’ has clusters of rounded, clear-pink and slightly fragrant flowers above mid-green foliage. Flowers early summer. 1.5m. 3 Trochodendron aralioides Large shrub (only frost hardy) with glossy, oval, dark green leaves. The flowers, carried at the tops of the shoots are a brighter green. Flowers May-June. 10m. 4 Daphniphyllum macropodum ‘One of the handsomest features in my garden in winter… the most prominent feature is the bright carmine of the leaf stalks and main…

“Food companies don’t want us to grow our own food. Growing your own food is defiant – if you’re doing it, it’s gangsta” On Ron Finley’s business card is printed, ‘RON – Head Trouble Maker’. One look at him, and you know he’s only half-joking. He’s a committed, charming subversive, his easy manner only just disguising his anger at the lack of access that poor people have to nutritious food in the richest country in the world. He grew up and still lives in the predominantly African-American and Latino suburb of South Los Angeles, a bleak landscape of derelict lots, more asphalt than green spaces, where levels of obesity, diabetes and heart disease in the population run at epidemic levels, so he has plenty to sound off about. His trouble…

Around 25-30 per cent of the plants Cistus grows are native to this part of the USA, including several that are endemic to the area. The northwest USA sees incredible changes in temperature and rainfall regimes, and one side of a mountain range may have a totally different flora to the other side. One factor, though, that links all plants native to the Pacific coast – from the top of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico to southwest British Columbia in Canada – is that they will all tolerate summer drought conditions. With water-saving plants high on the agenda for many American gardeners, there is clearly sense in concentrating on these tough locals, but Sean has another reason for specialising in these native plants. “I would just love it,” he says,…

Some have laid a charge of wholesale destruction at Brown’s door. He’s been accused of sweeping away the formal landscapes of the 17th century, and displacing hapless villagers who marred the view. In fact, the fussy, embroidered gardens based on French and Dutch models were already out of fashion before Brown began to realise his vision. And Brown’s master plans have to be seen within the context of field enclosures, and the wholesale reform of agricultural practice that was taking place at the end of the 18th century. Where everything around them was changing, villagers might well regard better housing stock on drier ground as a change for the better. At Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, for example, three villages are included in the estate.…

EXHIBITION Inside the lines A vast area of elevated geometric planters, composed of 240 triangular raised beds filled with soil from 36 gardens and green spaces across London, is the inaugural Hyundai Commission for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern. Created by Mexican artist Abraham Cruzvillegas, the installation, called Empty Lot, has nothing planted but is lit and watered from above to allow seeds and plants embedded in the soil to grow. “The soil could make a portrait of London,” says the artist, “with all its differences.” Until 3 April; tate.org.uk UNDERGROUND GARDENING After the High Line, New York’s elevated park, comes Lowline, a proposed green space below ground, which will occupy the one-acre site of a former tramline terminal on New York’s Lower East Side. This underground park (the…

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A SHAKESPEAREAN BOTANICAL By Margaret Willes Bodleian Library Publishing, £12.99 ISBN 978-1851244379 An intriguing, pocket-sized book that looks into the folklore of plants in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. OFFER PRICE £11.69 THE WINTER GARDEN By Emma Hardy Published by CICO Books, £14.99 ISBN 978-1782492382 Creative ideas to brighten winter gardens from foliage-filled baskets to richly planted pots. OFFER PRICE £12.99 HEIRLOOM HARVEST Photographs by Jerry Spagnoli By Amy Goldman Bloomsbury, £40 ISBN 978-1620407776 An homage to forgotten varieties of fruits and OFFER PRICE £36 vegetables using stunning photos. STEPPES: THE PLANTS AND ECOLOGY OF THE WORLD’S SEMI-ARID REGIONS By Michael Bone et al. Timber Press, £35 ISBN 978-604694659 A comprehensive study of the world’s largest grasslands. OFFER PRICE £31.50 BOOK OFFER DETAILS Most featured books are available to readers…