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GARDENS OF OUR TIME

Erika Yarrow visited the Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) Hampton Court Palace and Tatton Park flower shows and discovered gardens that fed the mind, body and soul.

I have long been a member of the RHS and enjoyed the spectacle and splendour of the annual shows, jostling with celebrities at Chelsea to catch a view of this year's must have rose, awestruck by the model perfection of blooms in the floral marquee and stunned by the extravagant, often architectural, creations given form by some of the most respected and inspired garden designers of our time.

To be intoxicated by colour, scent and form can be a wonderful indulgence, but the environmentalist in me sometimes felt a pang of guilt that the pleasure that some of these exuberant, aspirational, 'lifestyle' displays delivered was based on a philosophy of desire that did not sit well with low consumption ideals. So given the current economic and political climate, I wondered if the RHS shows would maintain an aloof that seemed at odds with current trends. Would perfection seem like artifice? Splendour, showing off? Extravagance, out of touch?  I am pleased that none of the above was the case.  In fact, I found the shows surpassed themselves and in a way came of age, not just reflecting our time, but finding the beauty in it.

 I found gardens where the natural perfection of the most humble of wildflowers was celebrated; the architectural splendour of the Italian black cabbage, cavalo nero,  was given pride of place; and the power of gardens to communicate ideas and give pause for thought was rendered touchingly and with great consideration.  Yes, the shows displayed the crème de la crème of horticulture, specimens that make the average gardener gasp and feel a ting inadequate. But the shows engaged, met the challenges of our times, and encouraged visitors to cherish the wealth that Mother Nature bestows on us.

Addressing journalists at the Hampton Court Palace show, Sue Biggs, director general of the RHS, said: 'In times of recession people go back to the things that matter most.  And nothing matters more than gardening.' Her point is supported by the increasing demand for allotments and rising vegetable seed sales, as a new generation discovers the joy of getting soil beneath the nails and a taste of the freshest of fresh fruit and vegetables on the tongue.  For anyone interested in growing their own, the RHS Edible Garden at Hampton Court Palace was a feast to behold.

Designed by Jon Wheatley and Anita Foy, the Edible Garden not only celebrated our edible heritage with an orchard of traditional nut and fruit trees, a hop garden, bee hives, a pond enjoyed by geese and a wild area featuring hawthorn, hazel, elderflower and brambles ripe for foraging; but it also looked to the future, with a vineyard, lavender and olive groves, which were traditionally considered to require Mediterranean climates, but are increasingly being grown in the UK.  Similarly, a tropical house allowed exotic jungle crops to flourish.  If all this were not enough, the planting of mixed borders, where artichokes stood stately behind day lilies vying for space with clove scented pinks, purple podded beans and penstemons, provided a riot of colour and texture that could have rivalled many an herbaceous border.

Still on the edible theme, the Copella Plant and Protect Garden, designed by Sadie May Stowell, aimed to encourage visitors to celebrate the diversity of English apple varieties, through a design that echoed the shape of apples and the leaves of apple trees, with a central wooden sculpture rising forth in a demonstration of the cycle of regeneration found in orchards. A network of narrow rills, inspired by the veins of an apple leaf, illustrated the importance of water.

The conceptual garden 'Landscape Obscured' by Dan Lobb, drew attention to the wealth beneath our feet through the help of periscopes through which was revealed an enchanting world of fungus, moss and liverworts.

Edible gardening was also celebrated in the small gardens, most successfully in the gold medal winning 'The 5 A Day Garden', designed by Heather Culpan and Nicola Reed, which demonstrated that by using the deep bed method it is possible to meet the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, every day for an entire year, from a planting space for just ten square metres.

Also in the small garden area, Tony Wagstaff's 'The Home Front Garden' paid homage to the 'Dig for Victory' campaign and highlighted the resourcefulness of the period by using recycled materials for all of the hard landscaping.  Whilst 'The Potential Feast' by Raine Clarke-Wills and Fiona Godman-Dorington provided a modern take on the traditional cottage garden, providing space for al fresco dinning for the environmentally conscious urban professional.

As well as encouraging us to reduce our food miles by finding space for fruit and vegetables, many of the gardens at the Hampton Court Palace show evoked the spirit of the countryside.  'Stockman's Retreat' by Chris Beardshaw was remarkable in its creation of a seemingly natural landscape, which included a woodland and flowering meadow, stone paths and walls, and herbaceous planting that lead towards a stone retreat complete with green roof.

Marking the 50^th anniversary of the WWF, Fiona Stephenson's 'Why We Care About Chalk Streams' aimed to raise awareness of these threatened ecosystems.  Amid naturalistic planting, a giant plug hole and spherical sculptures highlighted the impact water consumption has on chalk streams, reminding viewers that their everyday choices impact rare and treasured habitats.

As an art form, horticulture can evoke philosophy, inspire thought, empathy and even challenge accepted concepts. Caroline Comber's 'I Am Because Of Who We Are' took inspiration from the South African philosophy of Ubuntu with the aim of emphasising the need for international cooperation in strengthening the global community, expressed through circular planting. 

'Diamonds And Rust' by Tony Smith considered human perceptions of time, contrasted with geological features, representing the time scales of geological time, ancient human history and the industrial age, through a pyramid, rolling hills and industrial chimneys. 

Anoushka Feiler's 'Excuse Me Whilst I Kiss The Sky' asked the viewer to look at the world from a different perspective; looking to the skies to where planters were used to create a ceiling of flora, whilst mirrored balls encouraged the visitor to expand their horizons and embrace liberal contemplation. 

'Enduring Freedom?' by Nete Hojlund and Corinne Sharp considered the hostile environment that soldiers in the Afghan conflict must endure to defend cultural values, ethics and morality. Whilst 'Picturesque' by Melissa Jolly crossed the boundaries of contemporary art and horticulture to recreate famous works of art through planting, highlighting the value of ecosystems that may one day become museum pieces because of their rarity.

At Tatton Park, for me, the star of the show was the Oxfam garden, 'When The Waters Rise' by Dori and Howard Miller. Stunningly planted, the garden highlighted the challenges faced by rural women growers impacted by climate change, such as those who face flooding in Bangladesh.  The garden, on a flooded site, offered hope and demonstrated adaptations that could be made - a shelter built on stilts, plants grown on floating rafts, portable baskets containing edible plants, even the roof was used as a growing space.

Equally poignant, 'I Dream Of The Promised Land' by Bill Butterworth represented a Rwandan refugee's flight to freedom, inspired by the true story of Agnes who at the age of seven fled Rwanda, where her family had been lost to the genocide.  A dark interior structure disorientated viewers and led one to be completely immersed in a jungle like core, strewn with the clothes and abandoned possessions of refugees fleeing for their lives.

On the theme of urban planning 'A Stitch In Time Saves Nine' by Daniela Coray, RHS National Young Designer of the Year finalist, created a rural idyll in an urban street, connecting people to their environment, providing food and habitat for wildlife.

All in all, the Hampton Court Palace and Tatton Park shows provided great inspiration and demonstrated that horticulture can greatly enrich lives, providing a powerful means of self-expression in the best and worst of times, feeding the body and soothing the soul.  

The RHS is keen to get as many people gardening as possible and a focus for this will be the launch of National Gardening Week, which will take place on 16-22 April 2012.  To find out how you could become involved visit www.rhs.org.uk.