The Allure of the Architectural Thistle Eryngium giganteum, known as Miss Willmott’s ghost, was famously scattered by the eccentric plantswoman Ellen Willmott in other people’s gardens without permission. Today, the…
At Beth Chatto’s Plants for Dry Gardens in Essex, the new gravel garden trials are catalysing a shift among designers towards species that thrive on neglect, echoing the nursery’s ethos…
Kew Gardens houses thousands of tropical species in its glasshouses, but the plants its horticulturists recommend most for windowless London flats are famously tolerant. The species that survive in flats…
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew runs evening openings where its Temperate House is lit solely by high-efficiency LED fittings that mimic moonlight. That deliberate choice of cool, diffuse illumination reveals…
At RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey, the new Exotic Garden pairs black basalt paving with gravel mulch, a combination selected specifically to absorb solar heat and radiate it back to…
The Palm House at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, showcases tropical greenery that thrives indoors in summer, inspiring us to bring that lushness home. Houseplants are not merely decorative accessories;…
The 16th-century Villa d’Este at Tivoli was designed with a *giardino segreto*—a private garden accessible only to the cardinal and his closest confidants—establishing the blueprint for horticultural enclaves that privilege…
The Royal Horticultural Society’s drought trials at RHS Garden Wisley demonstrate that even perennials which have collapsed to the ground in extreme heat can stage a full recovery if intervention…
Clara Merton’s show garden for the Wildlife Trusts at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show blended a wildflower meadow with a still pool and a deadwood stumpery, earning her a gold…
At Clifton Nurseries in Maida Vale, London, the most compelling displays this summer pair glossy Alocasia zebrina with slender rattan chairs, proving that a single, well-chosen plant can define an…
