Editor’s letter
This issue marks 25 years of Gardens Illustrated magazine. Issue one, edited by Rosie Atkins was on sale in May 1993 and since then
Gardens Illustrated has firmly established itself as the indispensable and stylish guide to all things horticultural. Resolutely forwardlooking, we continue to celebrate the most considered, useful and the best; be it cutting-edge design, essential outdoor kit or planting expertise. It’s the world’s leading gardens magazine, and with a global outlook.
Folly Farm in Berkshire is described by Anna Pavord as Britain’s best Lutyens’ garden. Over the past eight years designer Dan Pearson has been revitalising the planting there and, in the first of a new series, Anna and Dan visit the garden together to discuss its wider importance and consider how this has influenced Dan’s work. The planting is subtle, nuanced and bold in part. Dan describes reimagining the garden’s historical core as well as adding new areas, such as a wind garden, meadow and courtyard. It’s a work of significance and note.
We Made a Garden, written by Margery Fish in 1956, describes her gardening adventures with her husband Walter at East Lambrook Manor in Somerset. Considered the epitome of an English cottage garden, with self-sowers, wildflowers and gentle abundance, East Lambrook is now Grade II listed, and it felt fitting to revisit for our anniversary issue. Plantsman Matthew Reese met the current owners and found out what has changed since Margery and Walter’s time there.
The fantastical flora of Romania is little known except among select plant enthusiasts who speak about it in excited tones. Colourful, scented and humming with insects, the grasslands of southern Transylvania are among the best in lowland Europe and the native habit of many familiar garden plants including Dianthus carthusianorum, Salvia nemorosa and stachys. We look at some of the plants growing there and consider the pressures that threaten these grasslands today.
There’s also a first look at the show gardens designed for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Our show guide includes work by Sarah Price, Tom Stuart-Smith and Tom Massey. We asked critics including two previous years’ winners and the RHS Young Designer of the Year to evaluate the 2018 designs and to pin down which might win this year’s Best in Show. You can also download the daily Gardens Illustrated Chelsea podcast ahead of the opening of the show for exclusive insights from key designers.
I hope you enjoy the issue,