I’M effectively a gardener now,’ confesses Zara Gordon Lennox, chatelaine of Gordon Castle in the Highlands of Scotland. ‘I help with the mowing, the weeding… we’re all working incredibly hard because we’re so short-staffed due to the crisis.’ It’s not only gardening she’s doing. The lockdown has devastated the castle’s income (with no visitors between February and July), so another side of the business has been fast-tracked: floristry.
When Zara and her husband, Angus, began restoring their eight-acre walled garden in 2015, flowers for cutting, among the vegetables and espaliered fruit trees, were always part of the plan, largely to decorate the castle and holiday cottages. Posies on the tables in the tea room led to enquiries as to whether they were for sale, so the team started making up bunches, first of sweetpeas, then of mixed stems. Lockdown, however, changed everything.
‘We’d bought in a whole load of primroses and primulas to sell just as we were all being told to stay indoors and I couldn’t bear for them to be chucked on the compost,’ remembers Zara. In an attempt to spread a little joy in a difficult time, she dropped them on random doorsteps in the village and, before long, people were asking if she could provide bouquets. ‘I think people noticed we were struggling and realised that, as with food, provenance is important and backing local businesses is important. Our customers were amazingly supportive and we now take orders online and deliver locally in a way we didn’t before.’
Denne historien er fra August 12, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra August 12, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
