Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2021 i Gardens Illustrated Magazine

With so many wonderful plants to choose from, how best to decide which ones to grow? In this issue we take inspiration from five leading designers who all select the plants they use regularly in the context of wider plant communities; Nigel Dunnett, Professor of Planting Design at the University of Sheffield, counts the incredibly beautiful planting scheme at the Barbican in London among his work, designer Marian Boswall’s elegant and contemporary plans are informed by natural plant communities, Conrad Batten’s painterly approach draws on the principles of forest gardening and Tom Massey is the designer of the first organic garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year. Pioneering French nurseryman Olivier Filippi, our international contributor, is a specialist in plants that thrive using fewer natural resources. What these…

Small but tough Perfectly sized to pop in your mouth, with a fabulous f lavour that is sweet as a cherry, Solanum lycopersicum ‘Crimson Cherry’ is an early cropping F1 hybrid cherry tomato from Suttons that’s perfect for container growing in a courtyard garden or terrace, and doesn’t need a greenhouse. Growing to around 2m, it offers delicious fruit from June to October, and is the first blight-resistant cherry-sized tomato, completely unfazed by both early and late blight. Available to buy as seeds, which can be sown from late February until April, and from late spring as grafted super plugs and plants. Prices start at £4.49 for a pack of ten seeds. suttons.co.uk SEEDS OF CHANGE The historic gardens at Chatsworth have entered the final phase of their three-year transformation…

Conrad Batten Conrad’s plant choices reflect the naturalistic spaces with sustainability at heart that are key to his design ethos, and offer an immersive and transportive experience. conradbattendesign.co.uk Marian Boswall Marian’s selection includes plants that will protect soil, lock up carbon, and provide food and shelter for wildlife but, most of all, are simply very beautiful. marianboswall.com Nigel Dunnett Nigel’s choices are all robust plants with strong character that fit nicely into the layers of naturalistic plantings, and above all have multiple seasons of interest. nigeldunnett.com Olivier Filippi A pioneer of drought-tolerant planting, Olivier has selected plants from his Mediterranean garden that are as ornamental as they are functional, and are already grown in UK. jardin-sec.com Tom Massey Tom’s plant choices are all adaptable species, suitable for a range of…

What Around 28 species of bulbous plants, often with attractive foliage and nodding flowers of spreading or reflexed petals. Colours range from white, cream and yellow to pink and purple. Known as dog’s tooth violet, fawn lily and trout lily. Origins A few species are from Europe and Asia but the majority come from North America, where there are two distinct groups in the east and west of the continent. Season Flowers in spring. Size 10-40cm tall. Conditions In a woodland garden or shady border under shrubs, plant the bulbs in light but humus-rich soil that does not dry out completely in summer. Hardiness Hardy throughout almost all of the UK. Most have an RHS hardiness rating of H5, and are suitable for gardens in USDA hardiness zones 3a to…

On the slopes of a small mountain in the Drôme department of France live ceramicist Cécile Daladier and her husband Nicolas Soulier in their centuries-old house. Undeniably beautiful though the area is, it is not a grand or dramatic landscape: there is no sea glittering on the horizon; no snowy peaks towering above. Instead there is just the garden, such as it is, an unbounded mass of grasses, native shrubs and wildflowers – lavender, violets, wild peonies – with, near the house, pockets of cultivated flowers Cécile wouldn’t be without. “I don’t find myself drawn to the extraordinary, the extravagant or the exceptional,” says Cécile. “What interests me more is what’s fragile, what’s unfinished or changing. I think we all need to pay more attention to these things.” Whereas most…

1 NEW CITY ROOF TERRACES A roof garden designed by Tom Stuart-Smith Studio is set to transform a former office building in the City of London. Planning permission has been granted to convert the old BT Centre at 81 Newgate Street into a mixed-use development, bringing together offices, retail, culture and leisure, that will feature extensive roof terraces, a green façade and street level planting. The roof garden, which will be one of the most extensive in central London with almost half of it open to the public, has been designed on a gradient with more formal planting close to the restaurant and offices leading to an open meadow-like scheme that will allow stunning views of St Paul’s Cathedral. Planting, selected to be adapted to climate change, will feature a…

ADVENTURES IN EDEN: AN INTIMATE TOUR OF THE PRIVATE GARDENS OF EUROPE by Carolyn Mullet Timber Press, £30 ISBN 978-1604698466 A richly illustrated tour of 50 private contemporary gardens across Europe, chosen and led by landscape designer Carolyn Mullet. Reviewer Annie Gatti is a freelance garden writer. The publicity material for this book by American landscape designer and garden tours leader Carolyn Mullet claims the 50 featured gardens are ‘Europe’s most beautiful gardens’. Whether they are or not doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that they are a glorious selection of gardens across a number of European countries, many of them the personal gardens of acclaimed garden designers and landscape architects including Peter Janke, Paolo Pejrone and Tom Stuart-Smith; some that will be familiar to Gardens Illustrated readers, some…

Tom Massey Tom selects plants suitable for a changing climate, page 29. “I’ve included a selection of some of my favourite plants, a mix of British natives alongside nonnative performers and adaptable species.” Richard Wilford Richard recommends the best erythroniums to brighten a shady corner, page 50. “It is rare that you can say every species of a plant is beautiful but it’s certainly true for erythroniums.” Richard Bloom Photographer Richard visits a Devon garden, page 58. “Snowdrops and cyclamen abound at Higher Cherubeer, so many wonderful varieties mixed with a plethora of other winter-interest plants.”…

MARCH 27-28 March Cornwall Garden Society Spring Flower Show, UK Early season plant fair with specialist nurseries. 10am-4pm. From £10. Royal Cornwall Showground, Wadebridge, Cornwall PL27 7JE. Tel 07530 920585, cornwallgardensociety.org.uk APRIL 9-11 April RHS Garden Hyde Hall Spring and Orchid Show, UK Orchids and early flowering plants. 10am-4pm. £13.50. RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8RA. Tel 01245 402013, rhs.org.uk 22-25 April Harrogate Flower Show, UK Celebrating spring gardens. 8.30am-1pm or 1.30pm-6pm. From £15. Great Yorkshire Show Ground, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG2 8NZ. Tel 01423 648212, flowershow.org.uk 9-11 April Fête des Plantes de Printemps, France (and 24-26 September Fête des Plantes d’Automne) France’s largest plant festival. 10am-6pm. €14. Château de Saint-Jean de Beauregard, Rue de Château, 91940 Saint Jean de Beauregard, France. Tel +33 (0)1 60…

Don’t hesitate to rip out a plant that doesn’t perform. See the space as an opportunity Earliest gardening memory Selling my dad’s leftover bedding plants at the end of our drive with my sister Lauren. We would design and colour-in seed packets of marigolds and sell them for 10p each. Who has inspired your career the most? I was lucky enough to have two grandads, when I was growing up, with two different styles of gardening. One with immaculate lawns, wallflowers and roses. The other more tuned into nature with an orchard and vegetables. A privilege to have grown up with such legends. How did you come to a career in gardening I have always been interested in both art and horticulture. I took the art path first, taking me…

Most erythroniums are straightforward to grow if planted in dappled shade and light but humus-rich soil. Some of the smaller species, such as E. dens-canis, which only grows to about 10cm, can be swamped by surrounding plants so be careful where you place the bulbs. It helps that E. dens-canis flowers early, only beaten by E. caucasicum, when there is little else above ground in the last days of winter. The stars of the genus that originate from western North America usually reach around 30cm tall and most are strong enough to make their own space in a border. They flower in mid spring and can form vigorous clumps full of blooms. The one thing they don’t like is to be in dry, dusty soil in summer. They benefit from…

Margaret and David MacLennan introduced themselves to the esoteric pursuit of collecting snowdrops just over 15 years ago. They now grow at least 2,000 distinct cultivars of Galanthus and theirs is the largest systematic and publicly accessible collection in the UK. As a National Collection, it was granted Scientific Status by Plant Heritage a few years ago, in recognition of the MacLennans’ extraordinary rigour in maintaining, expanding and documenting the collection, but also of their generosity in sharing knowledge and plants among other enthusiasts and institutions. David has an impressively easy command of the niceties of form and lineage that distinguish each snowdrop in their collection and photographs them assiduously, while Margaret’s skill as a propagator has been central to the MacLennans’ rapid ascent among galanthophiles. The first priority on…

Ann-Marie Powell Garden designer I think an appreciation and desire to have a strong relationship with the natural world is becoming more and more prevalent. Naturalistic schemes filled with pollinators, in rural settings, are more popular than ever before, alongside minimalist, contemporary architecture as juxtaposition. People want to share their spaces with garden wildlife. Almost all of our gardens now contain water in some way to provide habitat for wildlife We are enthusiastically trying to be more site-sustainable – reusing or re-purposing materials – and clients are behind us every step of the way, limiting the environmental impacts of contributing to landfill. Plants, people and places celebrating the wild and energetic colour of nature have long been drivers at our studio, and I have revelled in including as much of…

PLANTOPEDIA by Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan, Smith Street Books, £30, ISBN 978-1925811773 The definitive guide to keeping houseplants happy and healthy from the founders of Australian indoor plant specialist Leaf Supply. GARDEN PORTRAITS by Larry Lederman, Monacelli Press, £40, ISBN 978-1580935456 Photographer Larry Lederman explores 16 private gardens in New York State and Connecticut throughout the seasons. GROW COOK & EAT VEGAN by Philip Glendinning, Book Guild Publishing, £14.99, ISBN 978-1913551100 A guide for anyone thinking of becoming a vegan, or who simply wants to enhance their wellbeing with a healthier lifestyle. THE BOOK OF THE EARTHWORM by Sally Coulthard, Apollo, £14.99, ISBN 978-1789544756 Sally Coulthard explores the miraculous world of the modest creature without whom life on earth would not be possible. JAPANESE PLANTS by Royal Botanic Gardens,…

James Basson James lives in the South of France where he runs Scape Design with his wife Helen, specialising in low-maintenance and dry gardens. He is a fervent advocate for creating sustainable landscapes. The winner of four Chelsea Gold medals, he was awarded Best in Show in 2017. Fergus Garrett Fergus was appointed head gardener at Great Dixter by Christopher Lloyd in 1993. He is passionate about passing on his knowledge through student programmes at Dixter and worldwide lectures. He was awarded an RHS Associate of Honour in 2008 and an RHS Victoria Medal of Honour in 2019. Anna Pavord Anna’s books include her bestseller The Tulip and most recently Landskipping. For 30 years she was The Independent’s gardening correspondent. In 2000 the RHS awarded her the Veitch Memorial Medal.…

January for me is a time of good intentions and renewed energy. After the indulgence of the festive period, I am ready to go back out into the garden. And, while it may not look like it on the surface, the same is true of the vegetable garden. As the days start to lengthen, almost imperceptibly at first, so the focus begins to shift from the ending of one growing season to the beginning of the next. All that said, this is midwinter and opportunities to get out into the garden may be few and far between. I find that this is the perfect time to get machinery serviced and to deal with any tools that need to be sent away for sharpening or repair. Others I will tend to…

The flowers of Erythronium are unlikely to be mistaken for anything else. Although erythroniums are closely related to tulips there’s little obvious resemblance. Growing from small bulbs, the flowers are held on a thin, arching stem and hang downwards, with petals swept back at varying angles. In some the flowers are dart-like with reflexed petals and in others they take the shape of a flared skirt, spreading gracefully outwards. Their natural habitat is often light woodland, forest clearings or shady banks. Commonly known as dog’s tooth violet, the only European species is the familiar Erythronium dens-canis. The name comes from the shape of the bulb, which is long and thin, like a canine tooth. There are three species from Asia – E. caucasicum, E. sibiricum and E. japonicum – their…

• Greencombe Gardens* Greencombe, Minehead, Somerset TA24 8NU. Tel 01643 862363, greencombe.org Open daily, April – July, 2-6pm. Admission £7. • Kevock Garden Plants Kevock Road, Lasswade, Midlothian EH18 1HX. Tel 0131 454 0660, kevockgarden.co.uk • Macplants Berrybank Nursery, 5 Boggs Holdings, Pencaitland, East Lothian EH34 5BA. Tel 01875 341179, macplants.co.uk • P de Jager & Sons Church Farm, Ulcombe, Maidstone, Kent ME17 1DN. Tel 01622 840229, dejager.co.uk • RV Roger* The Nurseries, Malton Road, Pickering, North Yorkshire YO18 7JW. Tel 01751 472226, rvroger.co.uk • Twelve Nunns 16 Carisbrook Grove, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 2GF. Tel 01778 590455, twelvenunns.co.uk *National Collection holder.…

When Elizabeth MacGregor tells people that she breeds v iolas, their most common reaction is “Oh, pansies?” Although she doesn’t like to talk ill of other people’s breeding efforts, at this she admits that she struggles to contain herself. “In fact I loathe and detest pansies,” she confides. “They are so often bred to produce large blobs of harsh colours, which is really the opposite of what I love.” Elizabeth has been breeding plants for more than 30 years, and there are definite themes within her breeding, small flowers being among them. “I will always go for a mass of small flowers over a few big ones. They produce more of a show, and at the same time they are more delicate.” I LOVE PLANTS THAT LOOK NATURAL AND CLOSE…

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Freedom of the city In a city of privately enclosed gardens, it is good to know that a friendly way with college porters will get you into at least one green quadrangle (just remember not to walk on the grass). Colleges are open to visitors on different days: on arrival, get your bearings by enquiring at the porters’ lodges and plan accordingly. Jesus College, one of the oldest, stands on 33 acres and boasts a serious outdoor sculpture collection; modernist Murray Edwards College opens its gardens all day, every day. Go with the flow Cambridge backs on to the fenland of eastern England, and the mysteries of this low-lying, watery landscape are part of its atmosphere. Coe Fen, butting up against Peterhouse in the middle of town, is a nature…