My Life in Plants
The first plants I ever grew?
I was lucky my mother came from a family of keen gardeners, so I had a plot of my own from three years old. I expect it contained mostly annual flowers, such as candytuft. The first plant I can really remember growing was a fine crop of radishes grown in my plot at boarding school. I went there at seven and the garden was the bit I enjoyed most. Sadly, the radishes were stolen.
The plant that shaped the gardener I am today
I first came to love oldfashioned roses when I worked at Sissinghurst. My whole gardening life was inspired by the style of Sissinghurst, and the knowledge, so generously shared, of joint head gardeners Pam Schwerdt and Sibylle Kreutzberger.
My favourite plant in the world
Heritage varieties of iris, specifically those bred by artist and plantsman Sir Cedric Morris. He named many of them after his friends, but some after pets, which amuses me and are my favourites. ‘Benton Menace’, named for a cat, is the best of all. I was thrilled to find its brother variety ‘Benton Baggage’, lovely but not quite as beautiful as ‘Benton Menace’. In 2015, in partnership with Howard Nurseries, we displayed Morris’ irises at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The associated publicity resulted in the rediscovery ‘Benton Baggage’.
The plant that’s made me work the hardest
Grass – whether it was raking up long grass in the orchard at Sissinghurst or caring for the fine turf, which had to cope with up to 200,000 pairs of feet a year. Fortunately, I was inspired by Len Stocks, a lecturer at Norwood Hall College, in London, who made turf-culture and groundsmanship fascinating. I’m also a fan of Ipswich Town Football Club, so was thrilled to meet past groundsman Alan Ferguson.
The plant I’d like to grow more of
An iris I don’t yet grow. Iris ‘Benton Rubeo’, named for Morris’ macaw, is still on the missing list. Maybe, someone knows where it is?
The plant I am in human form
I don’t really think of myself as a plant, certainly not an ‘English Rose’!
The plant that changed my life
That would have to be irises. I’ve become obsessed! However, my quest searching for them has included meeting lots of wonderful people, friends of Morris; learning about the art world in the 20th century, the circles he moved in and all people he knew. It’s been a ‘continuing education’ in my retirement.
The plant I’d always giveaway as a gift
I’m a bit stingy, so it’s always something I’ve grown myself, usually an iris! This said, we once gave friends
Liquidambar styraciflua
‘Worplesdon’ for its beauty and brilliant autumn colour.