The Aberconway gardeners

Lady Norman was born to the horticultural purple. Her mother, Laura Aberconway, made the gardens at Bodnant and Château de la Garoupe, the most famous Edwardian garden on the French Riviera. Her brother Harry, 2nd Lord Aberconway, continued to develop Bodnant and was president of the RHS from 1931–53, as was her nephew Charles, 3rd Lord Aberconway, a great plantsman, 1961–84. Lady Norman’s son Antony expanded and intensified his grandmother’s garden at Garoupe. Her granddaughter Miranda Gunn keeps a watching brief on Ramster. And Lady Norman’s greatnephew Sir Kenneth Carlisle, another plantsman, has made the best late-20thcentury garden in Suffolk at Wyken Hall.