When Barack Obama was having a particularly trying day, he would apparently often fantasise about abandoning the White House for Hawaii, where he would open a T-shirt shack that only sold white T-shirts in size medium. I have little in common with the former US President, but I too entertain a T-shirt-based fantasy: making a small run of ethically produced shirts that read: 'Colour schemes are for Monty.
Is it the ultimate gardening in-joke? I think so. It's not of my own creation. A couple of summers ago, while despairing at the motley collection of orange, yellow and pink flowers that appeared in the first bed I'd ever planted, a friend sympathised. "Don't fret about it," she said. "Colour schemes are for Monty."
Monty, of course, being Don, the Gardeners' World host and custodian of a couple of acres filled with a dozen different gardens, each with their own meticulous colour scheme. In this instance he's a by-word for Proper Gardeners: ones whose beds and pots are an elegant cohesion of carefully chosen tones, who never get distracted by a lurid impulse purchase or find a rogue red poppy standing tall among a sea of violet blooms.
Bu hikaye Gardens Illustrated dergisinin April 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Gardens Illustrated dergisinin April 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
LAZY DAYS
Alice Vincent has had a hectic 2023, but for next year she's come up with a cunning plan to give herself more time and reduce her carbon footprint
SCULPTING THE LANDSCAPE
Charlotte Rowe's elegant design for a country garden in Hampshire fuses modern and traditional styles and captures the Zeitgeist for naturalism with a contemporary edge
Flavour of the seasons
Smallholder and former chef Julius Roberts suggests three easy, warming recipes for a winter feast with seasonal produce
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
There is a biodiversity loss crisis, but research into the wildlife found in gardens has made it clear just how important these spaces are as habitat. Discover how much you can learn, and gain, by identifying and documenting what you find beyond your back door
YOUNG AT HEART
The garden of the late, great landscape architect Jacques Wirtz, which is more than 50 years old, is now being renewed by his children
Festive flourishes
Entertain in style this Christmas with ideas for natural decorations from Swallows & Damsons
LUKE SENIOR
A former Ruth Borun scholar at Great Dixter, Luke is now one of the garden's full time gardeners
Change of view
Designer Katie Guillebaud updated the Cotswolds garden of a garden photographer to make it picture perfect all winter
DIGGING THE DIRT
As Ken Thompson explains, the key to a good soil lies both in its structure and in the life it sustains. But is any of it improved by digging?
Forward thinking
When your front garden offers a better aspect than your back garden, it makes sense to make this your primary space