Annunciata Elwes
Around the world in 19 flowers
Painter and printmaker Angie Lewin (main image) and Christopher Stocks have collaborated on their third book, this time chronicling 19 flowers and the people responsible for bringing them to the UK. ‘My garden may be small,’ writes Stocks in his introduction, ‘but it contains almost the entire world.’
To be published tomorrow (February 27), The Book of Garden Flowers (Thames & Hudson, £16.99) is full of unusual snippets — ‘as much a social study as a horticultural history’ — such as on Charles Dickens’s obsession with a pelargonium, Henry VIII eating the first British-grown artichokes and British horticulturalist Ellen Willmott (she is said to have cultivated more than 100,000 species and cultivars), who died penniless after burning through her fortune employing more than 100 garden staff.
From sand to snow
A few days ago, Country Life’s favourite beach cruiser made an unexpected appearance in the most unlikeliest of environments.
The car? A stripy Mini Moke believed to be one of three surviving ‘Mini Surfers’ (Mokes that were modified by coachbuilder George Barris in collaboration with The Beach Boys). The event? The ICE St Moritz which sees some of the world’s most beautiful cars compete to be crowned most elegant and best in show — on top of a frozen lake. No sand in sight.
Despite its scarcity, the Moke was one of the cheapest and least powerful cars on display: ‘No snow tyres or studs,’ said owner Simon Kidston on Instagram. ‘Wheels the size of your carry-on luggage, the horsepower of a sewing machine and I’ve never ever driven it before today (plus I don’t fit).’
Kidston accessorised his ‘Mini Surfer’ with a surfboard which may well have come in handy had the lake’s surface started to melt. Thankfully, the classic car dealer, his trusty steed and the lake all kept their cool — no mean feat when your co-driver is the grandson of three-time F1 Champion Jackie Stewart.
To pylon or not to pylon
1,000 miles of giant pylons 'would be the most intrusive invasion of the nation’s rural landscape since the Second World War' argues Sir Simon Jenkins in a piece we published yesterday. He’s calling on members of the public to vigorously challenge the Government’s plans to cover the countryside in them.
Missed it? You can catch up by clicking here.
A few of India’s favourite things
India Knight, author of five novels — including Darling, a retelling of Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love — and a Substack called Home has revealed that her favourite things include her dogs and The Gunton Arms hotel in Norfolk.
Writing inside this week’s issue of Country Life, Knight said: ‘We have a soft-coated wheaten terrier called Brodie, a Norfolk terrier called Tails and a sporting Lucas terrier called Lupin. My partner and I have five grown-up children between us and started calling the dogs “the kids” as a joke, but it’s stuck and isn’t actually entirely a joke.’
The author’s preference for terrier breeds is particularly fitting given that there are two ‘foxy gentlemen’ on the front cover of the same issue. ‘Terriers are the best dogs bar none: hilarious, intelligent, the best company and, in the case of Lupin, extremely effective on the rodent front,’ she continues.
The Gunton Arms also receives a mention for its Robert Kime interiors, remarkable art collection, deer park and delicious côte de boeuf cooked over an open fire. Knight’s favourite room is called ‘Walpole’.
A ‘beautiful and cheering banner’ made out of lots of different fabrics, from Joanna Thompson, rounds out Knight’s selection. Customers can personalise the text. Knight’s reads: ‘I’m fed up of growth / through pain / I want to be stunted / with pleasure’. Wise words to heed this Wednesday.
That’s all for today — Dawn Chorus returns on Friday.
-
Rock stars and the country house: Liam Gallagher's life in the Cotswolds is in the finest tradition of music A-listers, from the Beatles to BeyoncéWhat is it about the British countryside that draws A-listers from every walk of life? With Liam Gallagher's Cotswold former home on the market, Toby Keel takes a look.
-
‘Activities are of the derring-do variety, and the weather is unreliable year round, so it’s useful to be a good sport’: A memorable road trip to the tidal island in Scotland where J. M. Barrie liked to holidayThe opening of three new hotels in Scotland was all it took to convince Jo Rodgers to journey northwards on a road trip with her husband and three young children in tow.
-
'You could walk round it every day and always notice something new': A private tour of the garden of multiple Chelsea gold medallist John MasseyInspired by his friends Christopher Lloyd and Princess Greta Sturdza, nurseryman and plant breeder John Massey has made a garden in Worcestershire that never ceases to delight, writes Charles Quest-Ritson. Photographs by Clive Nichols
-
Alan Titchmarsh: 15 years ago we planted a hedge — today, it's 10ft tall, 6ft deep and a joy throughout the year. Here's how we did it15 years ago, Alan Titchmarsh planted a hedge; today, it's 10ft tall, 6ft deep, he and his wife absolutely love it, 'and so do all the creatures with whom we share our garden.'
-
The one website about trees and shrubs that everyone needs to know about'Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles' has been digitised, making one of gardening's most important works free and at your fingertips.
-
'Nature's loo roll': Verbascum, one of the most curious — and useful — plants you'll find in an English country gardenWith its ability to rouge cheeks, settle stomachs and operate as Nature’s loo roll, verbascum is as surprisingly useful as it is pretty, discovers Ian Morton.
-
'There is only a handful of fruit trees I’d grow for their non-edible charms — quince is one'A versatile fruit that's superb in jams and with booze, quince also doesn't make you work too hard for all that pleasure.
-
Everything you could ever want to know about growing, eating and cooking plumsMirabelles, gages, plums, damsons — the best ones to buy, the ones to avoid, and how to use them. Charles Quest-Ritson has you covered.
-
Sophie Conran's garden at Salthrop Manor, and its journey from bare field to Cotswold paradiseThe walled garden at Salthrop Manor — home of Sophie Conran — hums with life and colour. It’s hard to believe that this was merely a field not so long ago, as Tiffany Daneff explains; photography by Ngoc Minh Ngo for Country Life.
-
Alan Titchmarsh: You wouldn't think it, but Surrey is the most wooded of all England's counties — and its Scots pines are as beautiful as any of its treesAlan Titchmarsh is selling his house
