'I'm Something Of A Nature Boy At Heart'

'I'm Something Of A Nature Boy At Heart'

The first plant I ever grew 

It was probably a house leek, Sempervivum tectorum, which my grandfather Otto used to grow on his roof. He was a keen horticulturalist and helped me to pot up these lovely little plants. Later in my career I planted rolls of them as green roofs. They’ve been grown on roofs since Roman times as they’re supposed to protect from lightning strikes or thunderstorms.

The plant that shaped the gardener I am today. 

There was an old mulberry, Morus nigra, growing in a park in Iver, Buckinghamshire. I loved its gnarly bark and huge leaves. My dad used to take my sister and I there to collect the fruits, which I’ve loved to this day. They have a very sweet, but slightly tart, taste that’s exquisite. I later wrote a dissertation on mulberry when I was a student at Kew Gardens.