Editor’s letter
HRH The Prince of Wales is renowned for his love of gardening. This issue I am delighted to feature Highgrove, the Prince’s family home in Gloucestershire where the gardens, created over the course of the past 30 years, are testament to his enduring passion. The garden is a charming, innovative, highly personal space and, importantly, is a fine example of organic practices, of which the Prince has long been an advocate. The garden is brimming with outstanding plants, so I am thrilled that the Prince has kindly shared with us 24 of his favourites for summer. A fascination with plants is a common thread through several of our features this month: the city retreat of designer Peter Beardsley is a plant lover’s paradise, designed as a ‘beautifully orchestrated naturalism’; the garden of Bunny Guinness, a landscape architect and regular on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time, combines style and productivity; while Anke Kuhbier’s romantic cottage garden in Germany showcases wonderfully old-fashioned roses. Sarah Price, perhaps best known for her work on the Olympic Park in east London, has earned a reputation for her painterly planting schemes and original designs. I’m very pleased that Sarah has agreed to write our new Design Ideas series, which begins on page 92; this month looking at how to plant naturalistically. Studying plants is endlessly fascinating, and if you’re interested in trying to capture their ephemeral beauty, then turn to page 76 to find out about the remarkable art of nature printing. I hope you enjoy the issue.