Geoff was the head gardener at an old house at Mill Court near Alton which also included a 17th century barn, 3 greenhouses and 30 acres of ground. There were many mature trees including Magnolias and Gingko plus a number of ponds. The property is close to the River Wey and the grounds were prone […]
Iran’s long history includes ancient civilizations, the Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sasanian empires, and the eventual Islamic conquest in the 7th century AD. The country’s location on the old silk route between east and west meant that different influences played a part in the habits of the country. The geography includes mountain chains and rivers but […]
Panama is home to a wide variety of plants including more than 14,000 species of orchid and their national flower is the Holy Ghost Orchid, Peristeria Elata. Other orchids include Lady of The Night with a powerful scent and the orange Spanish Flag Orchid which grows on the ground and is up to 1 metre […]
The talk was concerned with the styles of gardens that Martyn recommends would fit into small spaces. He had been in horticulture since leaving schooland had contributed many articles to the Mail on Sunday, was on Channel 4 programmes, Shopping TV and Radio Solent. He has written eleven books on gardening, one of them being […]
Rosemary has a strong horticultural background, coming from a horticultural family and being a former nursery owner. Her late father was a hybridist of azaleas and rhododendrons and she had the honour of presenting a collection of his Azaleas to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Rosemary has travelled to many parts of the world and […]
Aim to create a garden with colourful Perennial Plants to enjoy every month of every year. Visit Garden Centres and other gardens every month to see what is growing well now, and to find plants that you would like to add into your garden. Take notes and take photos of ideas you would like to […]
Mark Porter has a 7 acres meadow garden near the A33, and their garden was on the front cover of “English Garden” magazine in 1991 with a caption “Fire & Ice”. “What can we use to create a garden that looks good in Winter ?” : Shrubs with evergreen foliage (Eleagnus x ebbingel “Limelight”, Prunus […]
The talk detailed the creation and organisation of the Winchester Flower Festival for which Pip was named Creative Director in February 2019. The talk was accompanied by a series of slides. The festival proceeds were to be in aid of the Winchester Cathedral Organ and the title of this particular festival was called ‘Resonance’. Initially there was […]
Stef has been the Head Kitchen Gardener at Lainston House for 3 years and 3 months, having joined in July 2021. The Kitchen Garden had been established for 17 years but had been left unattended for 3 months when Stef joined. It took her 3 weeks to weed it all! At that time there was […]
With a premise that plants need the same help as animals but can’t move, Leif wanted to be connecting people with plants so that they could capture the joy and excitement of plants and to dispel the attitude that plants are boring. Having found that botany books weren’t very helpful Leif embarked on a year […]
