WILD THINGS

At their lush garden in the English countryside, fashion entrepreneur Johnnie Boden and his wife, Sophie, each have room to cultivate their unique, but harmonious, visions

- CAROLINE DONALD

WYTHERSTON HOUSE, SOME PARTS OF WHICH DATE TO THE 17TH CENTURY, STANDS AT THE CENTER OF THE 500-ACRE ESTATE. THE FIELD IS PLANTED WITH A PROFUSION OF WILDFLOWERS INCLUDING OXEYE DAISIES, FIELD SCABIOUS, KNAPWEED, AND KIDNEY VETCH.

In every relationship, even a long and happy marriage, there is a line that cannot be crossed, and for Johnnie and Sophie Boden, it is drawn at the top of the wide stone steps rising from the terraces surrounding their country house in Dorset, southwest England. Stretching out beyond are Johnnie's wildflower meadows, an area in which he is free to do what he pleases. But from here down is Sophie's fiercely guarded territory, a profusion of romantically billowing shrubs and perennials.

CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT AN OLD APPLE STORAGE HOUSE STANDS IN THE GARDEN. SOPHIE AND JOHNNIE BODEN ON A GRASS PATH THROUGH A WILDFLOWER MEADOW. FIELD POPPIES, CHAMOMILE, OXEYE DAISIES, AND CORNFLOWERS ABLOOM. JANET, A WELSH TERRIER, ON THE LAWN. A LUSH LANDSCAPE OF GRAPEVINE, CLIMBING ROSES, WISTERIA, SHRUB ROSES, BOXWOOD BALLS, VIBURNUM, HARDY GERANIUM, NEPETA, ALCHEMILLA MOLLIS, AND SCABIOUS GROWS AROUND A SIDE DOOR.

The couple, who have three grownup daughters, bought the 500-acre estate in 2005 and come down from London for half the week; Johnnie has an office in the farmstead's 18th-century former threshing room for his eponymous company, Boden, one of Britain's most successful clothing brands. His first catalog was published way back in 1991 and soon came to epitomize a very exportable British lifestyle of comfortably-off folk with cheery good manners (the models never look sulky), adorable children, a love of the outdoors and jolly parties, and a penchant for zinging color.