IT is the middle of May, in the middle of England. The sky is a simple blue and the fields are edged with ridiculously radiant clouds of hawthorn. As the road with its story-book cottages approaches the handsome, early-12th-century church, a flash of bobbing tulip heads in the long grass catches the eye. Beyond is the house, a pretty, late-18th-century vicarage with a Gothic porch, gabled dormer windows and welcoming cinnamon-coloured render. Most importantly, there is a 2½-acre garden with views out onto the Dassett Hills and, on a day like this, to the Malvern Hills beyond. This is the home of Ben and Angel Collins.
Garden designer Angel Collins has been creating generous, comfortable gardens for 25 years. COUNTRY LIFE’s list of the Best Garden Designers in Britain (March 4) praises her ‘billowing and romantic borders… punctuated by strong, architectural planting’. Mrs Collins had already made an idyllic garden of her own at her childhood home in Mixbury, Oxfordshire, a garden renowned for its mix of roses, sky-rocketing Eremurus and lawns edged with rosebay willowherb. Eight years ago, however, she found herself in a new house, with a new garden (‘it was mostly paddock when we arrived’), and had to dig deep to find the heart to start again on a family garden.
Denne historien er fra May 20, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra May 20, 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.
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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
