01/05/15

round up! - April 2015

weeding out the best reads from another busy month on the internet

April was a confused month. We caught the sun one week gardening with bare arms and then froze the next as we planted a tropical garden in the snow, sleet and hail.

In the Twig garden spring treasures flourished. Sanguinaria canadensis and Erythronium 'Pagoda' flowered through a mass of Maianthemum bifolium foliage and a carpet of Chionodoxa. Our Fritillaria imperialis sprung up blind for a frustrating third year running but the lush leaves provided valuable greenery and structure.

In the studio we were busy with planting plans and new designs but true to form we still managed to find time to enjoy some wonderful gardening reads.

our pick of this month's reads

Paxton to Pearson - With the Chelsea Flower Show on the horizon this piece in The Telegraph about Dan Pearson’s search for inspiration at Chatsworth for his Laurent Perrier Garden caught our eye. It’s a lovely background story full of Pearson’s trademark thoughtfulness and sensitivity to the subtleties of place.

natural habitat - On a similar theme Dan Pearson also wrote a heedful piece about the value of observing plants in the wild and noticing the conditions in which they thrive without the helping hand of the gardener. “Seeing plants growing in the wild takes some of the mystery away from how to grow them.”

Seeds of Peace - The Guardian shared an inspiring article about Oron Peri and Mansour Yassin’s non partisan mission to save rare plants from the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. “They give these refugees, as Peri refers to them, a place to thrive and set seed.”

Japanese Hepaticas - Another piece in The Guardian, this time about Japanese Hepaticas appealed in unexpected ways. Our personal taste is for simple single flowers but there is something about the perfection of some of the cultivated forms that is surprisingly compelling.

The Irish Garden - And finally Emma Townsend’s book review of Jane Powers’ The Irish Garden in The Independent reminded us of the wonderful gardens we visited on a trip to Dublin last year. We’ll certainly be adding it to our wish list for our next visit.

Happy reading...

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