I am delighted to announce that in September 2019 I became a published photographer, that is, I had my first ever photographs published. The book, The Gardener’s Travel Companion to England, by well-known Australian author Janelle McCulloch features a variety of beautiful English gardens. Janelle has written over 20 books on architecture, interior design, travel and gardens, including 15 bestselling design titles.
Janelle discovered my blog posts via Google of two gardens that she wanted to include in her book - Perch Hill and Seend Manor.
The book is beautifully written and designed. If you are a fan of gardens and are planning a future trip to England, this book is a must-have. With the current Coronavirus no-one will be travelling anywhere for the foreseeable future but you can buy this book and enjoy learning about each of these gardens before you (eventually) visit them.
Sarah Raven’s garden Perch Hill in Sussex is the private home & garden of Sarah and her husband Adam Nicolson (grandson of Vita Sackville-West and Sir Harold Nicolson). A visit to the garden is included when you attend one of her workshops about floristry, growing cut flowers, cooking seasonal produce or Sarah's favourite plants. There is also a lovely shop at Perch Hill selling gardening, floristry and lifestyle items. I attended one of the floristry courses. Click here to see my blog post with plenty of images of the course run by the lovely florist and flower grower Juliet Glaves.
Seend Manor is in the village of Seend, Wiltshire, England and is owned by Amanda and Stephen Clark who divide their time between the UK and Hong Kong. They bought Seend Manor, their first home in the English countryside, in 1998. Given the couple spend a lot of time travelling the world, they decided to design the garden with geographical themes. “England; Africa, because Stephen was born and grew up in Kenya, and lived in South Africa; Italy, simply because we love it and have had many happy holidays there; and China,” said Amanda. The beautiful gardens within the two acre grounds were designed by well-known husband & wife duo Julian and Isabel Bannerman.
I have been an avid follower of Amanda Clark on Instagram for several years so it was marvellous to finally meet her and Stephen at the open day of their garden. If you have the opportunity to visit the garden you will not be disappointed; it is simply magical. Click here to access my blog post where there is a veritable feast of images of all parts of the garden including the house, stables and those incredible views over the Wiltshire countryside.
The book can be purchased on Amazon and is a welcome addition to your coffee table books or as an informative book if you are an avid lover English gardens. I hope you purchase a copy and that you enjoy it as much as I have.
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I am delighted to announce that in September 2019 I became a published photographer, that is, I had my first ever photographs published in a book, The Gardener’s Travel Companion to England, by well-known Australian author Janelle McCulloch which features a variety of beautiful English gardens.