AN INTERVIEW WITH JAMES ALEXANDER-SINCLAIR

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Renowned garden and landscape designer, writer and television presenter, the multi-talented James Alexander-Sinclair joins GROW London’s fabulous list of expert speakers. At the fair this coming June, James will be introducing new gardeners to the best plants to begin with.

We caught up with him to find out how he runs his own Northamptonshire garden, Blackpitts.

James Alexander Sinclair, who will be speaking at the GROW London Garden Fair in June

Describe your garden/gardening style
Disciplined anarchy: I like the plants to be able to stretch their limbs and do their own thing, but there comes a point when I have to step in and say ‘No’ in a very loud voice.

Favourite London garden/outside space?
I like the 9/11 memorial garden in Grosvenor Square very much.

Guilty gardening pleasure?
Sometimes I just say ‘sod it’ and lie on the grass when I should be doing something horticulturally useful.

Which tool couldn’t you be without?
My Felco secateurs. They have been with me for more years than I care to remember. They are one of the very few things that I have failed to lose. I also carry a scar where they cut deeply into my hand when I was taking them out of the packaging so we have a blood bond, my secateurs and I.

Who or what makes you laugh?
My wife, my children, Joe Swift & Cleve West, PG Wodehouse, the Turnham Green joke and random internet videos about cats.

Most unusual thing you’ve found in your garden?
A pair of baby hedgehogs was probably the cutest.

Biggest gardening disaster?
So many, but the skill is in either turning them to your advantage, or successfully hiding them so nobody finds out!

Life motto?
Never let your braces dangle.

When you’re in your garden, what do you spend most of your time doing?
Oddly I really like weeding. I listen to strange historical podcasts on my iPod and can sit there for hours happily digging, pulling and fossicking. I also love pruning roses.

See James speaking at GROW London this June, 20 – 22. Details will be confirmed soon, so do check back to see what will be on at the fair.

EASTER ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS

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With the Easter holidays looming, spring into action with these great Easter-themed antics to enjoy with the kids. They’re guaranteed to encourage burgeoning botanical interests, whether you have a garden or not!

GRASS SEED EGGS
Remember Troll dolls? Well, these are the egg shell versions! Fantastically easy to make, all you need are some clean, empty egg shells, grass seeds or cress seeds (or any other quick growing seeds you fancy using) some cotton wool and paint, felt tips, or – for the ultimate in eggspression – some googly eyes as in the picture above. Hair should start appearing roughly six days after planting and the kids can delight in watching it grow right before their very eyes!

You can see the process in pictures with full instructions on alittledelightful.

GROW London Easter activity suggestion: daffodil moss tins from oncewed.com

MOSS TINS
Super simple and super pretty, it’s not just the kids who’ll enjoy making these moss-covered planters. Simply clean some old tin cans, place a piece of moss on the tin and attach by wrapping some twine around several times. Repeat until the can is covered. Trim the moss around the base once you’ve finished, place some pebbles inside for drainage and pop in your blooms of choice!

The full process can be found on oncewed.

EGG SHELL GARDEN
If you fancy trying to grow more than just ‘hair’, then creating a mini garden in egg shells will not only be lots of fun, but look how beautiful the finished box is! Another fantastically simple idea, all you need to do is fill your cleaned shells with some soil, plant a pretty mix of succulents and flowers, then finish by adding a layer of moss to cover the soil.

If you’d like more instructions check Maiko Nagao and for more images look up Le Robin’s Nest.

GROW London Easter activity suggestion: carrot bunting from fiskars.com

CARROT BUNTING
Not strictly botanical this one, but too much fun to miss out! Tempt the Easter bunny in with pretty and bright carrot bunting, which will look lovely either indoors, or draped along balconies, hedges, or patios. To craft your carrots you’ll need orange and green card, string, a stapler, a 1/16 inch hole punch and if you’d like your veg to have a wavy trim you’ll also need a scalloped border punch (but they look just as good straight-edged too!).

You can find exact lengths and measures on fiskars.

PLANT CARROTS
Or why not have a go at growing the real thing! Carrots can be grown all year round, although the main planting season is from April to July, so they’re a perfect project for the Easter weekend. You don’t need a garden to plant them in either. Short-rooted varieties will thrive in containers and growbags, or take heed from champion growers and go for record-breaking roots by sowing your seeds in lengths of drainpipe!

The RHS have a great guide to growing carrots on their website.

Happy Easter growing and making! For more ideas to get your little ones growing make sure you come along to the GROW London, 20-22 June, where there will be a fun-packed kids programme with many workshops led by children’s gardening expert Dawn Isaac.

 

PLANTSMAN’S PICKS: APRIL

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Vicky and Richard Fox have a bit of a thing for heucheras. What started as a hobby to safeguard disappearing varieties has turned into a full-blown passion, with the couple now growing over 430 different types! We gave Vicky the difficult task of choosing just six April beauties she couldn’t be without.

heuchera rio chosen in April's Plantsman's Picks for GROW London

Heuchera ‘Rio’
One of the ‘City Series’ of heucheras, bred for their flower power as well as colourful foliage, Heuchera ‘Rio’ is as bright and vibrant as its metropolitan namesake. Like all heucheras, ‘Rio’ is evergreen but if that makes you think of dark green – think again. Heucheras are known for the foliage colours, but ‘Rio’ is in a league of its own, changing from season to season. In spring it is a rich, vibrant orange tone, changing to amber, then deepening to a rich tan and finally a beautiful yellow amber.

To top it off, its short maroon stems blossom with white flowers for most of the spring, summer and autumn. It’s extremely hardy too, able to survive temperatures to -20 and beyond. Amazing!

Heuchera ‘Sugar Plum’
A fantastic heuchera that has it all! Its white flowers flushed with pink make it a real showstopper, and its wonderful frosty plum foliage makes tidy mounds throughout the summer and still looks good in the winter. ‘Sugar Plum’ is also one of Richard’s favourites, and was a finalist in ‘The Top Plants for Chelsea 2010.’ This heuchera loves full sun, but will be fine in partial shade as well.

Heuchera Sweet Tart chosen in April's Plantsman's Picks for GROW London

Heuchera ‘Sweet Tart’
Small and neat, growing to approximately 8-10 inches wide, this heuchera is part of the aptly named ‘Little Cutie Series’. They are perfect if you want lots of heucheras but only have a small space.

With lime green foliage and a profusion of pretty pink flowers from spring through to autumn, ‘Sweet Tart’ is a wonderful flower for attracting the bees and other pollinating insects - something we should all be trying to do more of! It’s great for shady spots too, as all the lime green varieties need a little shade from the midday sun.

Heuchera ‘Thomas’
I think Heuchera ‘Thomas’ is my favourite, although I am probably a bit biased as we bred it ourselves and named it after our son Thomas! It’s a very unusual heuchera with low, neat green foliage and maroon veining, and makes for great ground cover if planted in numbers.

In May, June, July and August, it has elegant, tall, strong, slender stems rising from the crown; buds like ears of corn that stand proud and slowly open to reveal beautiful long-lasting cream bells at the top of the stem. Heuchera ‘Thomas’ was a finalist at The Chelsea Flower Show 2013 in the ‘New Plant For Chelsea’ competition. Thomas enjoys partial shade and like all heucheras, it doesn’t like to get water logged, but can handle periods of drought.

Tiarella Candy Striper chosen in April's Plantsman's Picks for GROW London

Tiarella ‘Candy Striper’
Commonly know as ‘Foam Flower,’ tiarellas are another speciality of ours, and a beautiful option for shady spaces. ‘Candy Striper’ has possibly the most dissected foliage I know of - it has pretty pink buds, which open to reveal white starry flowers and will flourish in dry shade. I’m not the only one who loves it either, the bees do too! A real gem for the garden.

Heucherella Solar Eclipse chosen in April's Plantsman's Picks for GROW London

Heucherella ‘Solar Eclipse’
Heucherella are the result of crossing a tiarella with a heuchera. The flowers are more star-shaped, like tiarellas and, like heucheras, most heucherella prefer to be in partial shade.

These plants are defined by their beautiful, large scalloped-edged leaves of dark maroon with a lime green border. After a frost in winter the foliage changes to an inky blue-black. The ‘Solar Eclipse’ is a particularly stunning variety, forming a very neat, dense crown of foliage and producing white flowers in summer.

You can buy Vicky and Richard’s lovely plants from the Plantagogo website or on nursery open days at Jubilee Cottage Nursery, Snape lane, Englesea brook, Nr Crewe, Cheshire, CW2 5QN.

Alternatively, you can visit their stand at GROW London this June on Hampstead Heath.

AN INTERVIEW WITH MARK DIACONO

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Mark Diacono, of Otter Farm, will be one of GROW London’s guest speakers at the fair in June. Here he reveals a guilty secret or two and provides us with a glimpse into his gardening world.

Mark Diacono, who will be speaking at GROW London in June

Describe your garden/gardening style
Perennial edible, forest garden

Favourite London garden/outside space?
Chris Achilleos’ north London allotment, which he opens for the NGS*. An incredible and beautiful blend of edible and ornamental.

Guilty gardening pleasure?
An ill-advised glass or two

Which tool couldn’t you be without?
My copper trowel

Who or what makes you laugh?
Bill Murray, Stewart Lee

Most unusual thing you’ve found in your garden?
A very large TV, deposited by a flooding river

Your lucky break?
That when we found the land for Otter Farm, it was a time when you could pretty much borrow what you like.

Flowers or veg?
Veg

Biggest gardening disaster?
In the tractor, running over a particularly hard-to-come-by peach tree.

When you’re in your garden, what do you spend most of your time doing?
Eating

Favourite book?
I’m reading The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt, which is in danger of becoming my favourite.

*Chris Achilleos’ allotment is open to the public on Sunday 10 August, 2014, or group visits can be arranged during the summer. More details can be found on the NGS website.

See Mark at GROW London this June, 20 - 22. Details will be confirmed soon, so do check back to see what will be on at the fair.

BEST GARDENS FOR BLOSSOM

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April might be renowned for its showers, but you can’t fail to be heartened by the waves of blossom washing our parks and gardens. Here’s our pick of the best blossoming hotspots in and around the capital.

RHS WISLEY, SURREY

Surrey Blossom

Visit wonderful Wisley in Surrey, one of the stars of English horticulture and last year named Britain’s Favourite Garden by the BBC Countryfile Magazine. Enjoying an early spring, the orchards are now in bloom. Look out for the early-flowering pear trees and the delightful red blossom of the Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’, in Wisley’s rock garden.

Whilst there, don’t miss your chance to take a look at Henry Moore’s ‘King and Queen’, now on display outside the laboratory until the end of September 2014.

Open daily. Admission £12.20 for adults.

BROGDALE FARM, KENT
With over 4,000 varieties of trees – the largest number in one spot in the world – Brogdale Farm is a beautiful cornucopia of orchards and fruit trees. The gardens reopen in April after their winter hibernation, and kick start their spring/summer calendar with ‘Hanami at Brogdale’ – their take on Japan’s annual blossom festival. Book a tour on their website and enjoy Japanese snacks while you admire the cherry blossom, not to mention the apple, pear, plum and apricot blossom too!

From April 1 – November, open daily. Tours at 11am, 1pm & 2.30pm
Admission £12.50 for adults.

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW
As Alfred Noyes’ poem goes, ‘Go down to Kew in lilac time… And you shall wander hand in hand with love in summer’s wonderland’. With over 100 lilac hybrids, such as the early flowering ‘Hyacinthiflora’, the garden in full bloom is a spectacular sight - so make a date to head down there in late April. If you can’t wait that long, there’s plenty more to catch your eye - cherry, magnolia and crabapple trees to name but a few.

Open daily. Admission £14.50 for adults.

ECCLESTON SQUARE, LONDON

London Blossom

One of the delights of blossom is stumbling across it in hidden away places. Tucked behind Victoria Station, Eccleston Square sports the National Collection of Ceanothus, with over 60 varieties of the plant bearing its stunning deep blue blossom. Usually kept locked for the square’s residents, it opens up for the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) on Sunday 11 May. To catch the April bloom, you can book an appointment via the website.

Admission £4. Open daily.

THE VALLEY GARDENS, BERKSHIRE
Embrace the spring, jump on a train to Windsor and get lost in the mesmerising Valley Gardens. First developed in the 1700s, the valley boasts 250 acres of woodland and enchanting views, known for flowering cherries, budding spring flowers and twisting trails.

Open all year round, entry is free.

FENTON HOUSE, LONDON

Blossom London Fenton

A hop, skip and a jump away from GROW London’s site is this hidden gem in leafy Hampstead. One of London’s ‘paradise’ gardens, Fenton House offers the perfect spring-time walled garden. Take a stroll amongst the flowering apple trees in the orchard and enjoy the scents of the spring border.

Open daily, £2 for garden entry.

WATERING CANS

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You certainly can’t get far in life without a good watering can. Well, that’s the view we like to take anyway. If you’re in the market for a new rain-maker, then here’s our pick of the best.

Haws 4.5 litre traditional watering can

THE STALWART CAN
Haws watering cans - made in England since 1886 - are the old faithfuls of watering cans, but their fab range of colours makes them very much at home in the contemporary garden too. Available in metal, plastic, or precious metals depending on your needs or desires, there’s something for everyone. Our favourite is the 4.5 Litre Metal Traditional Can in ‘Sage’, pretty enough to leave out among the alliums!

£39.99

Orla Kiely Linear Stem watering can

THE URBAN CAN
Orla Kiely’s angular cans scream ‘urban gardener’. If you’re all about monochrome plantings and neatly clipped hedging, then this stylish grey is the can for you. Otherwise, go for the delightfully cheery bright orange version.

£39.95

Ohlala watering can from Barbed

THE FUN CAN
Colourful, funky and fun, the Ohlala watering can is the epitome of playful garden design. Fun for you and fun for the kids, even just looking at is guaranteed to bring a smile. Available form Barbed.

£39.50

The Worm That Turned watering can

THE CLASSIC CAN
This shining 9 litre beauty from The Worm That Turned won’t have only the worms craning their necks when they see it swinging down the garden path – the neighbours will be at it too! The classic look fits with most gardens, and the clever design means it automatically tips further forward as it empties.

£42.00

Balcony Gardner's X Three Watering Can

THE SOPHISTICATED CAN
With a superb range of fantastic-looking watering cans, it is almost impossible to choose a favourite from the Balcony Gardener’s selection. Their Bookend Bloccon watering cans, £14, are really fun for indoor gardening, while the X Three Watering Can, pictured above, is the design-junkie’s can of choice. Available in solid copper (seen here), brass or painted steel.

X Three Watering Can, £45-65

Reclamation Warriors Vintage French watering can

THE VINTAGE CAN
Don’t let the flowers fool you – although this vintage French can (should we have called it the ‘can can’?!) from Reclamation Warriors looks beautiful sporting a flower arrangement, it’s in absolutely perfect shape and ready to be pressed into service at a moment’s notice. Proof that things only get better with age!

Around £65; prices vary depending on product

Sophie Conran's Indoor Watering Can

THE PRETTY CAN
For pretty and practical, Sophie Conran’s cans tick all the boxes and are good value at under £15. They have been designed to feel perfectly balanced in the hand, as well as being lovely enough to leave out on display.

£14.95

AN INTERVIEW WITH VAL BOURNE

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In June, the award-winning Val Bourne will be leading a talk at GROW London about gardening without chemicals. In this quick-fire interview Val gives a fantastic insight into her own gardening habits.

Val Bourne, garden writer, photographer and lecturer, who will be leading a talk at GROW London in June

Describe your garden/gardening style
Organic cottage garden style, heavily planted, to provide all-year round interest from the first snowdrop at Christmas to the last rose of the year.

Favourite London garden/outside space?
My own! When I come back from a week away at Chelsea I want to kiss the ground beneath my feet. Failing that, I love the atmosphere of the Arts and Crafts garden at Rodmarton Manor near my home in Gloucestershire. It has a balcony for romancing and long borders that dip down to an Ernest Barnsley summerhouse covered with Veilchenblau roses that fade to shot-silk blue against the grey, sun-warmed stone.

Guilty gardening pleasure?
Buying plants that I don’t need and have no room for. Somehow I can’t stop myself. I also visit nurseries - sometimes far off my real route.

Which tool couldn’t you be without?
My rubber rake, you can rake off the leaves without damaging the plants underneath - our cottage is surrounded by lots of beech trees. You can smarten a vegetable plot by raking through it. Everyone should have one.

Who or what makes you laugh?
The Best Beloved, a man meticulous in everything except his personal appearance.

Favourite book?
I’m part Cornish, on my mother’s side, and I came from a bookish family. Daphne du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn still holds a special place in my heart because we stopped there on the way to Mousehole every year. I read it aged 10 and I still adore the Bodmin landscape - winter or summer.

Most unusual thing you’ve found in your garden?
Spring Cottage was derelict and the garden was extremely weedy when we came here about eight years ago. Digging it was quite an experience because whole iron bedsteads had been buried underground. We unearthed a pigsty floor and we also discovered that the property had been called the ‘hovel in the waste’ on a 1742 map. We have a Roman lavabo in our stone wall, but the last owner filled it with concrete and there was plenty more under the garden.

Flowers or veg?
Both - and fruit. I constantly add more flowers, but I’m committed to growing all my soft fruit, a large part of my top fruit and all my vegetables. It’s healthy and it satisfies my thrifty side inherited from the Yorkshire branch of my family.

Biggest gardening disaster?
I’ve had so many! Cold Aston is cold, really cold, and silver plants hate it so I’ve killed off legions of them here. I’ve also bought Paeonia rockii three times, at vast expense, and each time I’ve fallen on it. I think I’m not meant to have it.

Life motto?
No is short for not yet.

When you’re in your garden, what do you spend most of your time doing?
I’m a tweaker - I deadhead, I prune and I primp. I also spend half an hour everyday just looking, on average, trying to notice something new. I often stand and stare.

See Val at GROW London this June, 20 - 22. Details will be confirmed soon, so do check back to see what will be on at the fair.

PLANTSMAN’S PICKS: MARCH

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Rosie Hardy of Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants shares her favourite plants with GROW London for the month of March. Which will you be planting?

Coronilla, one of Rosie Hardy's march plant picks for GROW London

CORONILLA VALENTINA SP.GLAUCA ‘CITRINA’ AGM
This has to be the most fragrant shrub for winter/spring perfume and the lovely pale lemon flowers brighten up a dull day too.

A Mediterranean native, it finds our winters rather damp and draughty, so it does best in a pot, in a protected site, and needs only minimal watering. It has not read the books and is unaware that it is meant to stop flowering, which makes it tricky to know when to prune. Nevertheless, you must steel yourself and prune it hard in April and July, even if there are flowers there.

Anemone Nemorosa, one of Rosie Hardy's march plant picks for GROW London

ANEMONE NEMOROSA ‘ROYAL BLUE’
Fabulous little blue gems that carpet the ground under deciduous trees and shrubs. I just love the way these plants reappear in March, flower amazingly in a sea of blue then disappear until the following spring.

All Anemone nemorosa are best planted as growing plants as they will establish far better. If you opt instead for the dry packaged rhizomes sold and planted in October, make sure that they are given a soak in water prior to planting. Plant with chicken wire around the rhizomes to protect from squirrels and mice, and place a label underground as, rodents aside, the other main culprit of them disappearing is YOU digging them up! The rhizomes look like twigs and are often thrown away after a tidy up.

Dicentra formosa, one of Rosie Hardy's march plant picks for GROW London

DICENTRA FORMOSA
My mother loves this plant and grew it in all her borders in her Yorkshire cottage garden. A very easygoing perennial with wonderful blue-grey fernlike foliage contrasting well with the beautiful heart-shaped pink flowers, it tolerates a lot of growing conditions, is not too tall and can be used at the front of a border.

Sometimes it tends towards thuggishness but it is easy to pull up if it starts romping off in the wrong direction. Best divided in autumn. Although this plant starts flowering in spring if you get the correct clone it will continue to flower well on into the summer.

Geranium malviflorum, one of Rosie Hardy's march plant picks for GROW London

GERANIUM MALVIFLORUM
This hardy geranium is slightly different from others, in that the foliage appears in winter, it flowers in early spring and then is summer deciduous, meaning you can accommodate another summer flowering plant in the same spot – very handy!

The wonderfully cut foliage makes fabulous patches of green in the winter months, before being covered with large blue flowers in March. Good under deciduous shrubs, too.

Primula Guinevere, one of Rosie Hardy's march plant picks for GROW London

PRIMULA ‘GUINIVERE (PR/POLY)’ AGM
A fabulous pink primrose with purple foliage, this is a winning combination for the early flower border and always makes me smile. Masses of flowers produced over a long period means this small plant punches well above its weight, especially as it is easy to grow in any reasonable soil (in part shade preferably).

If you want to split it to produce some more, do so after it has finished flowering.

Pulmonaria Diana Clare, one of Rosie Hardy's march plant picks for GROW London

PULMONARIA ‘DIANA CLARE’
I love this wonderful lungwort for its extended season of interest. Not only do you get a fabulous display of blue, mauve and pink flowers throughout winter and early spring but, once it has finished flowering, the beautiful silver foliage expands to full size, making a striking feature of its own.

The foliage mounds left after flowering are useful ground cover in semi shady areas and better than hostas as the leaves are hairy and less prone to slug damage.

You can buy each of these plants and much more at Hardys Cottage Garden Plants:
Priory Lane Nursery
Freefolk Priors
Whitchurch
Hampshire
RG28 7NJ

Or you will be able to visit their stand at GROW London on Hampstead Heath in June.

MARCH IN LONDON

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We have been busy here at GROW London, rooting around to find the best gardening events taking place in the city this month. Take your pick of our suggestions and enjoy London’s green places and spaces.

Fulham Palace Exhibition

THE FAMOUS AND HISTORIC GARDEN AT FULHAM PALACE
Fulham Palace
until 23 April

In 1751 the Fulham Palace Garden was described as having “a greater variety of curious exotic plants and trees, than had at time been collected in any garden in England.” So not only is it a garden of great botanical interest, it is also one with a great historical legacy, which is explored in this latest exhibition.

Free

COLUMBIA ROAD FLOWER MARKET
Columbia Road
Sundays

Every Sunday Columbia Road is transformed into a fantastical cornucopia of flowers and foliage. As the coming of March brings with it thoughts of spring, this is the perfect month to explore the market for some new plants to bring a breath of spring air into the home.

BOTANICAL ART IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Kew Gardens
until 10 August

Appreciate the beauty of nature on canvas in this exhibition focused on the continuing tradition of botanical art and how new painting techniques are promoting innovation and fresh approaches in the field. Not only can you enjoy seeing works from the Shirley Sherwood Collection, there will also be works on show that have never before been exhibited in the UK.

Free with admission to the Gardens
Adult Garden ticket £14.50

The Barbican Consevatory

BARBICAN CONSERVATORY
Barbican
Sunday 9 March

Despite being the second largest conservatory in London, the Barbican Conservatory is something of a hidden gem and is certainly less well known than Kew, London’s largest. Open to the public for the day on Sunday 9 March, it’s the perfect way to transport yourself miles away from the city to a world of tropical plants and trees, not to mention finches, quails, and exotic fish – all for the price of a tube ticket!

HAM HOUSE & GARDENS
Ham House
Garden tours start on 8 March

Three hundred years old and Ham House’s gardens have changed very little, maintaining much of their formal heritage. Home to the UK’s oldest orangery, and said to house the oldest Christ’s thorn bush in the country on the tea terrace, it’s a lovely place to delight in the sense of the past. Don’t miss the fantastic walled kitchen garden while you’re there.

RECENT PRESS

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Some lovely articles have been written about us recently, so we thought we’d share a few of them with you. If you’d like to read any piece in full (with the exception of The Sunday Times article), just click on its image.

Did you spot us in The Sunday Times Home supplement?

GROW London mentioned in The Sunday Times Home supplement as part of a larger garden show article

This fantastic piece was featured in the Evening Standard recently:

Design Week ran this great feature about our early branding and design:

We’re delighted that Dawn Isaac will be running hands-on workshops for children at the fair, which will include sowing, making and crafting things for the garden!

Horticulture Week, Shoot Gardening and the Reckless Gardener also have included some nice pieces about the upcoming fair:

While our full event listings can be found on hampsteadheath.net and All in London.

We’re very grateful to each of the publications above for their mentions of GROW London - thanking you all! Very much looking to forward to all the pieces in the pipeline too, keep your eyes peeled and do keep checking back to find out where else we’ve been appearing!