Monday, June 06, 2011

Getting down to summer

The recent fair spell up north has given us a chance to get in some serious gardening. Plenty of roses to dead head, box to cut and the start of the flowering perennials to admire. Post-Chelsea the sob story is that Dianthus Cruentus has proved so popular that Crocus has sold out! Short of finding a plant like ticket tout who might be prepared to part with their specimen I will have to wait for next year and hope the Dianthus is offered again. It seems that Dianthus Cruentus is rarer than an Olympic ticket!

This amazing plant caused a storm at Chelsea on Cleve West's Daily Telegraph Garden and no wonder. It shines like a 3 D red light even in bright sunlight. I have found that Dianthus do very well in our Cumbrian garden, they shoved off the really cold and bad winter, the sever frosts and winds we had and have positively blossomed this year. Which encourages me to make more of a feature of them, however, the little gem from Cleve's garden will have to wait until stocks are replenished - hopefully. Well done to those who have managed to get the plant and for the rest of us unlucky ones, we will have to be content with the photograph!

A really lovely paperback, 'The Cottage Garden' by Twigs Way, has just been published. This delightful slimline book in a handy A5 format is published by Shire Books - www.shirebooks.co.uk The archetypal picture of a cottage garden conjures up images of roses growing around the door, honeysuckle creeping over the garden wall and fragrant lavender lining the brick path - however, while this image may have some resonance, Twigs delves deeper into the chocolate box images and examines the history, style, planting and moral significance of this most English of garden creations.

She charts the history of the cottage garden from its origins as a functional space providing food for the table, herbs for the physic bottle and room for the hens, pigs and privy to the 18th century Romantics and intellectuals, such as Wordsworth, who transplanted wild flowers into their patch of English Eden. The austere morality of the Victorian era, who held that a well-tended garden was a 'symbol of honest frugality and sober industriousness' and that poverty and drunkenness were the downfall of the labouring classes, positively encouraged gardening and allotments as a key to 'society's salvation.'

Twigs leads the reader from the cottage garden of 'productive poverty' to the wonderful gardens of Jekyll and Vita Sackville-West, grown for colour, smell and pure indulgence and reminds us of a definition provided by the editor of 'Cottage Gardening' in 1892 who stated that: "The charm of the cottage garden is .... due to the absence of any pretentious plan." Most of us would agree with that. She then brings us up to date by pointing out that in the modern style there can be various approaches from mixing traditional with contemporary to the more formal approach bringing symmetry and more precise planting.

The illustrations used in 'The Cottage Garden' are delightful and perfectly convey the 'cottage' theme. The author has also included a list of suitable plants for the cottage garden which will be useful to those gardeners who are perhaps thinking of developing the style in their own garden. 'The Cottage Garden' is priced at £6.99 and is an excellent easy overview of this delightful form of gardening.

Flora Locale, the charity that promotes the restoration of wild plants for biodiversity, landscapes and people, is calling for more British wild flowers and trees to be grown in British gardens. Sue Clarke, of Flora locale points out that the campaign aims to encourage British wild flowers and trees in our gardens and public open spaces to create species-rich habitats that are attractive to butterflies and other insects. Even in small spaces native wild flowers can create colourful borders and individual plants such as teasel, juniper or wild angelica can be used to add structure.

This summer sees Flora locale running a number of workshops as part of the campaign for more areas of species rich grasslands to be re-created so that they are attractive to butterflies and other insects. To check out their programme log onto their website at www.floralocale.org  There is an event at Haddo Country Park on Thursday 30th June on the Management of wildflower grassland and another at Wakehurst Place, West Sussex on Wednesday 6th July on Seed collecting and use for restoration and re-introduction.

Hugo Bugg's Albert Dock Garden at RHS Tatton

Much excitement will be building now for RHS Hampton Court and of course the north's very own RHS Tatton Park. I like Tatton because it is easy to get to from Cumbria and can be achieved in a day with no expensive overnight hotel bills!

Tatton is also the venue for the RHS National Young Designer of the Year competition, so looking forward to seeing the gardens of the three young designers chosen as this year's finalists, Alexandra Froggatt, Daniela Coray and Owen Morgan. Alexandra is Cheshire based and although new to exhibiting at RHS Shows has already been making her mark with her own company. Daniela is currently completing a Masters in Art and Environment at Falmouth and she too has set up her own design company based in Cornwall. Owen set up his own landscape design firm in 2004 and is based in Rutland. So good luck to all three in their bid to become the RHS National Young Designer of the Year.

Last year, Hugo Bugg not only won the title of RHS National Young Designer of the year but also the award for Best in Show. Hugo's Albert Dock garden has set the bar high for this year's entrants.

Finally, a mention about the Gardening Against the Odds awards for 2011 which honours the unsung heroes of gardening who create beauty against the odds. These awards, launched by The Sunday Telegraph in association with The Conservation Foundation, call for entries from individuals and community groups who garden in often unpromising and unlikely places or in the face of physical or psychological difficulties. The awards are dedicated to the late Elspeth Thompson, the Sunday Telegraph writer who sadly died in 2010 and are named after her final online diary.

Last year's winner, Andrew Barnett, whose severe depression left him unable to work as a headteacher, found gardening a lifesaver. His story is typical of many who find relief, pleasure and hopefully rediscover a sense of joie de vivre through gardening.

Closing date for this year's entries is 16th September 2011 and winners will be announced in October. For details log onto: www.telegraph.co.uk/gardeningawards2011

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