The Designers: Van Gogh comes to the Chelsea Flower Show?

‘Le Jardin de Vincent’ has been created by Patricia Thirion and Janet Honour who met at Capel Manor College while studying garden design. This is their first attempt at any RHS show and they were “absolutely delighted” when their courtyard garden was selected for Chelsea – in fact they are still on cloud nine! Patricia grew up in a 5th floor apartment in Paris with a balcony garden consisting of a few geraniums in the occasional terracotta pot! Janet discovered the delights of gardening in England at a very early age ‘helping’ her father at every opportunity. As a French woman, it is ironic that Patricia dislikes frogs! Fortunately, Janet loves them!

Patricia originally came to London as an au pair, but enjoyed living in England so much that she settled here permanently. After being a full time mother, she returned to college to study garden design. Janet too is a busy mum. Having specialised in Personnel and Health and Safety, Janet is now working with Patricia to develop their garden design business, ‘A Touch of France’.They have formed a strong business partnership that covers all aspects of garden design and planting. Based in Hertfordshire, their new design company is already attracting public interest,

The Garden:

The idea for their garden came from a rough sketch drawn at the breakfast table. Patricia envisaged a courtyard garden that would bring a little bit of France to Chelsea. The drawing showed an old French house with a very simple front garden. It had to be Provence, but Provence with a difference! After talking to Janet, the idea for ‘Le Jardin de Vincent‘ was born.

The garden is simple and pleasurable with an array of soft and gentle greys, greens and blues. These bring to life the striking blue in the irises and the sunshine orange in the Calendula (marigolds). A fig and oleander lean lazily against the house. Three Italian cypresses brood dark-green in the north-west corner by the window. An old olive tree provides welcome shade, itself surrounded by lavenders, santolinas, thyme and ox-eye daisies. These plants are repeated throughout the garden. The leaves of the Calamagrostis, planted close to the fence on both sides of the garden, mimic the wheat fields so often painted by Van Gogh. A splash of red is provided by the geraniums in small, terracotta pots on the window sill of the house. It is a garden of broad brush strokes, moving colours and a seductive simplicity that is so suggestive of Van Gogh‘s work.

All the planting is drought resistant and requires minimal watering while reclaimed timber and second hand elements have been used wherever possible. Two of the sponsors of this garden, Veolia Water UK PLC and Aylett Nurseries Ltd., are actively involved in environmental issues. Veolia Water promotes gardens that are not dependent on the use of quality tap water while Aylett Nurseries is piloting an Environmental Management Programme aimed at garden centres and nurseries. Both Patricia and Janet wish to see a return to simpler, more ‘natural’ gardens that work in harmony with the environment.

The Inspiration:

Between 1888 and 1890, Vincent Van Gogh stayed in Provence. Enthused by the quality of the light and the countryside, he produced some of his most famous works. Through plants and features, the courtyard garden ‘Le Jardin de Vincent’ captures fragments of Van Gogh’s paintings from the ‘Yellow House’ to the ‘Irises’. The clues are all there. The easel with its half- painted canvass; the palette and brushes placed on a simple table; the pipe and tobacco abandoned on a yellow, rush-woven chair; and then, the straw hat, the old boots and dried sunflowers… Here, visitors will be invited to make their own unique association with Van Gogh, his paintings and the gardens he loved.

Vincent Van Gogh once wrote to his brother Theo, “I dream my paintings and then I paint my
dreams”. For Patricia and Janet, this is what ‘Le Jardin de Vincent’ is all about.

The Contact:

Patricia and Janet can be contacted at www.atouchoffrance.co.uk or telephone 020 950 2472. Meet them at the Chelsea Flower Show 22-26 May 2007. The ticket hotline number is 0870 247 1226 or contact www.rhs.org.uk/flowershows for more information.

‘The Old Gate’ – AW Gardening Services – Courtyard Garden
Planting List

Trees and Shrubs

Specimen Plant :
Pyrus communis. – Heritage variety ‘ Beurre Hardy’ – raised around 1820

Buddleja davidii ‘Black Knight’
Hedera hibernica
Lonicera periclymenum
Malus domestica. – Heritage varieties in keeping with the era of the garden
Syringa vulgaris ‘ Mme lemione’ – Old fashioned French varieties
Syringa vulgaris ‘ Ludwig spath’ – Old fashioned French varieties

Traditional Garden Perennials –

Aconitum ivorine
Asplenium scolopendrium
Ajuga reptans
Alchemilla mollis
Aquilegia (mixed)
Astrantia major ‘ Hadspen Blood’
Bergenia cordifolia
Campanula persicifolia
Centaurea spp.
Centranthus ruber
Corydalis lutea
Delphinium grandiflorum
Digitalis spp.
Geranium endressii
Geranium macrorrhizum ‘ Bevan’s variety’
Lunaria annua
Linaria purpurea
Lupinus hybrids
Hesperis matronalis
Myosotis sylvatica
Polygonatum biflorum
Stachys byzantina
Veronica alpine repens

Wild Plants and Grasses –

Grasses:
Agrostis stolonifera
Avena fatua
Bromopsis erecta
Carex nigra
Carex pendula
Holcus lanatus
Lolium spp.
Poa annua
Poa trivialis

Cereal cultivars of:
Avena spp.
Hordeum spp.
Triticum aestivum

Wild flowers:
Allium ursinum
Bellis perennis
Cardamine pratensis
Cymbalaria muralis
Geranium robertianum
Iris foetidissima
Leucanthemum vulgare
Lychnis flos-cuculi
Plantago major
Ranunculus repens
Rubus fruticosis
Rumex acetosella
Silene alba
Silene dioica
Silene vulgaris
Stellaria holostea
Taraxacum officinale
Trifolium pratense
Trifolium repens

Vegetables

Heritage varieties of :

Dwarf French Bean (Var. – ‘Hutterite Soup’ – Origins 1750)
Runner Beans (Var. – ‘Coal’ – Origins in Shropshire mining village Generations old)
Beetroot (Var. – ‘Cook’s Delight’)
Cabbage (Var. – ‘Delaway’ – Old fashioned Irish variety)
Carrots (Var.– ‘White Belgium’ – introduced 1800s)
Peas (Var.– ‘Lancashire Lad’))
Radishes (Var. – ‘Rats tail’ – 1868)
Lettuce (Var.– ‘Bath Cos’ – 18th Century English variety) (Var.– ‘Northern Queen’ – pre- 1950
Rhubarb (Varieties -‘Victoria’ – introduced 1837 ‘Prince Albert’ – introduced 1840

Horseraddish

PLANT LIST

ALPINE/ROCK PLANTS

Alyssum montanum ‘Mountain Gold’
Arabis caucasica
Armeria maritima
Aubrieta x culturum ‘Whitewell Gem’
Cerastium tomentosum
Erinus alpinus
Erodium reichardii
Lewisia cotyledon
Iberis sempervirens
Phlox douglasii
Phlox x procumbens ‘Variegata’
Pratia pedunculata
Sagina subulata aurea
Saxifraga paniculata
Saxifraga x urbium
Sempervivum arachnoideum
Sempervivum tectorum
Sempervivum giuseppii
Silene uniform
Veronica prostrata

ANNUALS/PERENNIALS

Althaea rosea
Alchemilla mollis
Anthemis tinctora ‘E C Buxton’
Anthemis tinctora ‘Kelwayi’
Antirrhinum majus ‘Brighton Rock’
Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Norah Barlow’
Aquilegia hybrida ‘Mrs Scott Elliotts Strain’
Campanula medium
Carex elata aurea
Centaurea Montana
Centranthus ruber
Chrysanthemum segetum ‘Eastern Star’
Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’
Delphinium elatum
Dianthus barbatus
Digitalis purpurea
Erigeron karvinskianus
Geum ‘Lady Stratheden’
Iris sibirica ‘Perry’s Blue’
Lupinus ‘Russell Hybrids’
Nepeta mussini ‘Six Hills Hybrid’
Tanacetum ‘Robinsons Hybrids’
Verbena bonariensis

CLIMBERS

Clematis ‘Lasurstern’
Clematis ‘Nelly Moser’
Clematis ‘The President’
Eccremocarpus scaber
Rosa ‘Paul’s Scarlet’
Rosa ‘Goldfinch’
Tropaeolum peregrinum

TREE

Laburnum x watereri vossii

SHRUBS

Weigela ‘Eva Rathke’
Berberis thunbergii atropurpurea

HEDGE
Ligustrum ovalifolium ‘Aureum’

Plant pot no.
Size (cm) size (ltr)
30w 1 4 Armeria maritima ‘Alba’
40 3 1 Senecio viravira
40 2 1 Artemisia arbrotanum ‘Powis Castle’
30 2 12 Briza media
40-50 1.5 10 Centranthus ruber/alba
60-70 3 1 Cistus purpureus ‘Alan Fradd’
50w 2 4 Crambe maritima
100+ 5 2 Cynara cardunculus
25 2 2 Dianthus e.g. Mrs Sinkins
25w 1 20 Erigeron karvinskianus (syn E. mucronatus)
80 4 6 Euphorbia characias subsp wulfenii
30 2 4 Festuca glauca
30-40w 2 2 Geranium x cantabrigiense e.g. Westray/biokovo
15-20w 1 2 Geranium cinereum e.g. Ballerina
30 1 2 Geranium clarkei ‘Kashmir White’
40 3 1 Halimiocistus wintonensis ‘Merrist wood Cream’
Unknown as yet 72 Papaver rhoeas
50 3 1 Rosmarinus officinalis
40 3 2 Santolina pinnata subsp. neapolitana
9w .9 mxd tray Sempervivum
1.5-2 4 8 Stipa Gigantea
(6 Thymus coccineus
10-20 1 mxd (6 Thymus serpyllum var. albus
(6 Thymus vulgaris ‘Silver Posie’

3m 1 Pinus sylvestris
2.5m 1 Tamarix tetrandra

Chris O’Donoghue
CAPABILITY CHRIS
01580 240817
07887 554412

The CAF Giving Garden – Where the Wild Things Are

Plant List

Trees:
Catalpa bignonioides
Roystonea regia

Climbers:
Passiflora caerulea

Herbaceous perennials
Alocasia macrorrhiza
Angelica archangelica
Angelica sylvestris ‘Vicar’s Mead’
Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Raven’s Wing’
Cardunculus ‘Violetto di Chioggia’
Chamaemelum nobile
Digitalis purpurea
Digitalis ‘Saltwood Summer’
Hosta ‘Blue Moon’
Hosta ‘Halcyon’
Iris ‘Dutch Chocolate’
Iris ‘Quechee’
Lavandula angustifolia ´Hidcote’
Rheum palmatum ‘Atrosanguineum’
Musa coccinea
Musa basjoo

PLANT LIST FOR THE CHELSEA GARDEN 2007

GENERAL PLANTING

Alchemilla mollis
Aquilegia
Aubrieta ‘Whitwell Gem’
Bergenia ‘Perfect’
Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’
Carex buchananii
Carex elata ‘Aurea’
Corydalis flexuosa ‘China Blue’
Dianthus
Dicentra spectabilis
Euphorbia dulcis ‘Chameleon’
Euphorbia polychrome
Fragaria ‘Pink Panda’
Heuchera micrantha var. diversifolia ‘Palace Purple’
Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’
Lirirope
Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’
Phormium ‘Yellow Wave’
Polygonatum multiflorum ‘Variegatum’
Primula bulleyana
Pulmonaria saccharata ‘Mrs Moon’
Pulmonaria saccharata ‘Sissinghurst White’
Pulmonaria saccharata ‘Smoky Blue’
Salvia viridis var. comata
Sedum acre ‘Aureum’
Sedum ‘Ruby Glow’
Sempervivum
Symphytum ibericum
Thymus
Tiarella trifoliata
Uvularia grandiflora
Vinca minor
Viola

CONTAINERS

Lewisia
Tulips
Sempervivum

SHRUBS/STRUCTURAL PLANTS/CLIMBERS

Acer palmatum var.dissectum ‘Seiryu’
Akebia quinata
Clematis ‘Shiva’
Clematis ‘Elizabeth’
Crataegus laevigata ‘Paul’s Scarlet’
Kerria japonica ‘Pleniflora’
Nandina domestica
Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Diabolo’
Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Tom Thumb’
Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Variegatum’
Ribes sanguineum ‘Brocklebankii’
Sarcococca confusa

DAMP GARDEN

Astrantia major
Caltha palustris
Dierama pendulum
Ferns
Hosta
Ligularia
Persicaria bistorta ‘Superba’
Primula denticulata
Rheum alexandrae
Rodgersia pinnata ‘Superba’
Trollius x cultorum ‘Alabaster’

VEGETABLE GARDEN

French Beans
Herbs
New Potatoes
Rhubarb
Ruby Chard