The English Garden June 2022

Philip Clayton Freelance writer Philip has had a life-long love of great gardens; his own urban plot is filled with unusual plants, many profiled in his forthcoming book A Plant for Every Day of the Year. He visits The Old Vicarage on p32. Kerryn Harper-Cuss An editor of home and lifestyle magazines, with 12 years at the helm of our sister title, The English Home, Kerryn champions specialist skills such as those of the sculptors featured on p81. Alan Gray Alan’s interest in gardening began as a child and grew throughout his career in advertising and antiques, just like his garden at East Ruston Old Vicarage, Norfolk. He suggests plants for summer pots on p127.…

Generally I consider myself very lucky and privileged to have this job. Spending the days immersed in gorgeous gardens and plants is clearly no hardship, but there is one snag: my wish list of plants is officially out of control. I’ll run out of room long before I’ve even made a dent in it, and since it’s June and our bumper issue is full of delicious-looking roses, I anticipate the situation getting worse. There are roses at Jonathan and Sandra Blaza’s garden at The Old Vicarage in Burley, Rutland, and packing the borders at Gardeners’ Cottage in Shropshire, where rosarian Michael Marriott gardens with his partner Rosie Irving. We also have designer Jo Thompson outlining some planting schemes for roses and hand-picking a selection of her favourite rose varieties (most…

Lonicera periclymenum ‘Belgica’ IN FLOWER NOW There’s something nostalgic about honeysuckle. Often there’s a cherished childhood memory of a billowing plant filling the evening air with its heady scent. Who wouldn’t want one around a porch or engulfing an arch? Happily, honeysuckles live up to the memory, their clusters of flowers just as fragrant and evocative in real life (as long as you choose a scented variety). ‘Belgica’ is an early-flowering cultivar that starts to bloom in May or June, with ruby-pink flowers that turn apricot-yellow as they age. Grow it in sun or dappled shade and look forward to the delicious perfume.…

James Alexander-Sinclair In addition to writing, lecturing, broadcasting and getting to grips with his own new garden, the renowned garden designer is also a judge at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show A hugely important element of garden design is to enjoy being with your clients. Building a garden isn’t quite the same as installing a boiler – it’s very personal. It’s a pleasure to make partnerships and work in gardens across the country. I don’t know how to say “no” and the most exciting project is always whatever is coming next. One garden I particularly loved creating was Horatio’s Garden Scotland, to support people affected by spinal injury. The garden surrounds an NHS spinal centre and benefits patients, visitors, nurses, doctors and cleaning staff. It’s a demonstration of the power of gardens to…

Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden Cornwall The artist and sculptor died in 1975, but her small, well-established Cornish garden has been carefully looked after ever since. It is filled with semi-tropical plants and beautiful sculptures. Tel: 01736 796226; tate.org.uk RHS Hyde Hall Essex I’m an advisor at Hyde Hall, a garden still in development. It gets wind and very little rain, so rather than devising an irrigation system, planting has been adapted to the conditions. The future of gardening is to bend with the weather. Tel: 01245 402019; rhs.org.uk…

New Tree Collections at Wisley Open all year, Surrey RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey has recently had its three new National Plant Collections accredited by horticultural conservation charity Plant Heritage. The RHS is hoping to explore the adaptability of the new collections of Eucryphia, Albizia julibrissin (Persian silk tree) and Lagerstroemia (crape myrtle), all of which originate from warmer continents but which are now expected to thrive in South-East England due to the warming climate. Both organisations hope that the collections will help to shape the future of horticulture by indicating how different plants adapt and respond to climate change. rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley Get Creative at Clayhill Arts Various dates in June, Somerset Clayhill Arts, a creative learning space based at a former farm in Somerset, celebrates its rural setting this summer with an open garden weekend,…