May 2010
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Chelsea Flower Show 2010
Anyone who might think that gardens develop too slowly, or last too long, to be affected by the vagaries of fashion need only visit the Chelsea Flower Show for a few consecutive years to realise just how much these gardens both set and reflect the trends of our times. A few years ago, the gardens were [...]
Chelsea Flower Show 2010 build-up and Press Day
I’m incredibly fortunate in being able to spend a couple of days at the Chelsea Flower Show each year. I love the atmosphere during build-up with its mix of nerves, exhaustion, adrenaline and steely determination to create perfection against tough odds. This year, not surprisingly, it’s been the weather that has been the main topic [...]
“I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers” Claude Monet
Call me an old romantic but I’m a bit of a sucker for tulips. I love the way they are transformed from tight bud to over-the-top bloom, with an intensity and depth of colour almost unparalleled in the plant world. It’s no wonder so many painters love them, though it’s not easy to capture the luminescence and silkiness [...]
new drive and entrance, Dorset
I was asked to design the front entrance area and drive for this delightful Arts and Crafts house in Dorset. As you can see from the ‘before’ photo (below), the original entrance was a steep tarmac drive, with a metre height difference between the left and right sides of the house, which ‘featured’ a slightly bizarre oval [...]
The 2010 Great Garden Trail
I was in London yesterday at the garden I designed in Bow http://www.amandapatton.co.uk/portfolio/bow/ which was open to the public under the Great London Garden Trail. This was rather an unusual garden opening, in that the Trail featured just 10 gardens, each of which had been professionally designed by a Registered Member of the Society of Garden Designers. As [...]