The life and loves of a time-poor plantsman
I imagine I have a lot to deal with at The Watch House, but being the custodian of a large, historic garden is a different matter altogether. Responsibilities range from maintaining the fragile fabric (living and non-living) to deciding the future course of the garden’s development; not to mention fathoming out where all the money […]
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How fortunate that my first visit to Sissinghurst this year should coincide with the warmest day of the spring so far. As the car bowled through the Weald of Kent the roads were fringed with sulphur-yellow catkins and golden daffodils, sparking beneath a clear blue sky. The greys and browns of winter had started […]
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How comforting – Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson had plant casualties. They were like the rest of us, after all. This amusing revelation comes thanks to The National Trust’s renewed efforts to restore some of the ebullience and gay abandon that Sissinghurst’s creators strived for when they were alive. Sissinghurst is getting real, and […]
Read MoreThe White Garden at Sissinghurst is arguably one of the most admired and imitated gardens in the world. It began as an idea in 1939, all thoughts of which were sadly overshadowed by the War. Then in 1949 Vita resurrected her vision for a white and silver planting, including santolina, cineraria and rabbit’s ears, with regal lilies […]
Read MoreThe gardens of Sissinghurst Castle in Kent must be amond the best known in England, if not the whole of Europe. They are the creation of two people, Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicholson, who arrived at the property in 1930. Over a period of 32 years they worked together on this gentle masterpiece, […]
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