GARDENERS TO WATCH
Meet the avant-garde Edinburgh plantswomen bridging the gap between producing fine art and working the land
The gardeners
Natalya Ayers and Fiona Inglis studied fine art and ceramics respectively, but met after graduating while working in a flower shop in Edinburgh. ‘ We became really enthusiastic about British, as opposed to Holland-grown, flowers. But we found they were a fairly rare commodity,’ says Natalya. ‘So, we decided to grow our own to work with.’ They founded Pyrus, a cut flower garden and botanical design studio, in 2011. ‘ We have grown both parts of the business deliberately slowly – each year, we’ve taken on one or two more people, and 18 months ago we moved to a three-acre, derelict Victorian walled garden to restore and upsize our flower growing business.’ The garden After hours spent on Google Earth scouring Scotland for abandoned walled gardens, they came across this space in East Lothian, which Pyrus now rents from the estate owners. Fiona had previous experience working on an organic flower farm, and they both took a short course at Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden to understand the basics – but, they happily confess: ‘ We have very little official training between us – we’re learning through doing’. The design studio The potting shed is where the pair brainstorm and hatch plans for projects. These range from wedding bouquets and set design to gallery installations (they wrapped the Scottish National Gallery’s iconic columns in poppies for the recent ‘Inspiring Impressionism’ exhibition) and brand collaborations. The latest This month, the duo launch a collaboration with London scent specialists Laboratory Perfumes, as well as an installation in Edinburgh Castle – a pair of projects exemplifying Pyrus’s aesthetic range, from historic to contemporary. Pyrus is also focusing on upping its flower-growing output (pyrusbotanicals.com).
( 16– 24 SEPTEMBER) The brainchild of bold British designer Ross Lovegrove, the V&A’S new installation is inspired by its tapestry galleries. Visitors are surrounded on all sides by woven cloth that tells stories. Titled ‘Transmission’, Lovegrove’s work uses 115 metres of digitally printed suede-like Alcantara fabric shot through with gold and silver thread, wound to form a 25-metre walk-through experience (vam.ac.uk).