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Sally Nex

Monthly Archives: April 2015

By royal appointment #1

30 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by sallynex in shows

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

artists, Buckingham Palace, garden art, gardens in art, Painting Paradise, paintings, The Queen's Gallery

pp_qgl_v6

Ever since my father in law came back from a charity shop some years ago armed with Roy Strong’s weighty tome, The Artist and The Garden (which I subsequently discovered is a classic widely used by horticulture colleges teaching garden history), I have been fascinated by how much of what we know about gardens through history is glimpsed over the shoulders of people’s portraits.

In fact I was inspired to write a blog post at the time – and now I’m reprising on the subject as a few weeks ago I had the enormous privilege of coming face to face with many of the paintings I talked about then, in the original, larger than life and twice as impressive.

They were all part of ‘Painting Paradise’, the breathtaking exhibition running all this summer at the Queens Gallery just to the side of Buckingham Palace in London. Don’t miss it – I don’t usually rave about exhibitions (I don’t even go to them very often) but this one is really special.

Among paintings that made me stop in my tracks were this portrait of King Henry VIII, familiar from Roy Strong’s book but oh, so much more impressive in real life:

henryviiipainting

British School, 16th century, The Family of Henry VIII, c. 1545. Oil on canvas, 144.5 x 355.9 cm (support, canvas/panel/str external). RCIN 405796. Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014

It’s huge, occupying the best part of a wall in the exhibition, and its importance to garden history can’t be overstated: those background peeks are I believe the only authentic visual record of what Tudor gardens were really like.

But it goes back further than that. There is a beautiful section on Persian gardens, including the earliest illustrated Islamic manuscript in the Royal Collection dating back to 1510 including the lovely miniature, ‘Seven Couples in a Garden’ by Mir’Ali Shir Nava’i.

1005032

Mir ‘Ali Shir Nava’i (d. 1501), Khamsa (Quintet) of Nava’i, 1492. Manuscript on gold sprinkled paper, written in superb nasta’liq script, with elegant illuminations at the beginning of each poem, and six miniature paintings. | 34.4 x 23.0 cm (book measurement (conservation)) | RCIN 1005032. Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014

Then – much later – there was this astonishing picture of a stag hunt against the magnificent setting of the – presumably only just completed – Versailles gardens in the background:

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Attributed to Jean-Baptiste Martin (1659-1735), A Stag Hunt at Versailles, c. 1700. Oil on canvas, 120.0 x 180.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/str external). RCIN 406958. Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014

Apparently the water in that huge lake wouldn’t have actually been there at the time: all the water in Versailles was pumped at enormous inconvenience and expense from various ponds and reservoirs so they couldn’t keep them going all the time and would only turn them on when the King was walking around the gardens.

And then there was this massive aerial view of Hampton Court – I must admit I found it hardly recognisable from my own knowledge of the modern-day garden (visited each year for the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show). It makes you realise just how radically it’s changed over the centuries.

untitled

Leonard Knyff (1650-1722), A View of Hampton Court, c. 1702-14. Oil on canvas, 153.1 x 216.3 cm (support, canvas/panel/str external). RCIN 404760. Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014

And just one last one: I was also rather taken with this depiction of Christ and Mary Magdalene at the Tomb:

103351189

Rembrandt van Rijn (Leiden 1606-Amsterdam 1669), Christ and St Mary Magdalen at the Tomb. Signed and dated 1638. Oil on panel, 61.0 x 49.5 cm (support, canvas/panel/str external), RCIN 404816. © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014

There is a great deal of symbolism evoked by gardens depicted in paintings. Here, it’s all about referencing that old Persian idea of the garden as an earthly Paradise: Jesus, of course, is showing Mary the paradise of Heaven.

I do like the idea of Jesus Christ as a gardener: if you look closely he’s holding a trowel and has something like a pruning knife shoved into his belt. It fits, somehow. Love that hat, too.

There’s so much more to write about I feel a second post coming on. But do go and see the exhibition: it’s truly inspiring. You have until 11 October to get yourself over there – find out a bit more about it, how to get tickets etc here.

 

Karma camellia

25 Saturday Apr 2015

Posted by sallynex in chicken garden

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

camellia, frost, frost damage

Hmm.

I’m never quite sure about camellias. On the one hand, when they look like this, they’re fabulous.

camellia1

But they all too often look like this.

camellia2

This is classic frost damage: something to which camellias, or some varieties at least, are particularly prone. You don’t need much: this one is in what I call the chicken garden I look after just down the road from me in south Somerset, where we have only very mild frosts – in fact I didn’t even notice the one that caused this damage.

It ruins the display completely: not just browning the petals but throwing them to the floor like a lot of used tissue papers. The odd thing is that another pink variety next door, with larger flowers, came through all but unscathed. So it’s clearly something to which some types are more prone than others.

camellia3

This one came with the garden so nobody quite knows what kind it is. Shame, or I would have been able to warn everyone off it. It’s small-flowered and a rather saccharine shade of pink: not my favourite.

As you’ve no doubt gathered by now, this is a plant I find hard to love. But nonetheless I have been assiduously dead-heading the worst offenders and take off a bucketful of browning pink petals every time I visit, in a (largely vain) attempt to keep it looking moderately acceptable for a day or two at least. I shall be roundly glad when it’s finally finished.

I am very gently trying to persuade the owner that its display is so liable to tarnish and never quite look what it should that it should become an ex-camellia in fairly short order. She’s quite in favour of a quick and humane end to the misery but I’m not so sure her mother is. Oh dear: I fear we’re stuck with damp brown used tissues for some time to come.

This month in the greenhouse: April

21 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by sallynex in greenhouse

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

mice, pelargoniums, pests, Potimarron, scented leaved pelargoniums, sowing, squash, Uchiki Kuri

greenhouse1

Heeelp….!! I’m running out of room…

As always in April, there’s a traffic jam in my greenhouse. Outside, the cold frame is jam-packed with evicted seedlings but still they keep coming, as April is second only to March in terms of how much needs sowing yet you’ve still got the tender plants sheltering and taking up space, to say nothing of last month’s seedlings taking their time over growing big enough to go outside in their turn.

Still, so far, so good and there are lots of promising little things going on.

greenhouse2Uchiki Kuri squash seedlings, for instance. Aren’t these lovely fat little things? I do think they’re gorgeous. They’re getting in urgent need of potting on – amazing how quickly five fat squash seedlings can fill a 10cm pot.

It took me a long time to realise that Uchiki Kuri were the same thing as Potimarron – a French squash I’ve grown before and absolutely loved. They taste of chestnuts – a smoky, savoury flavour quite different from ordinary squash. I’m growing these just to make sure that they really are the same thing and not some Japanese upstart imitator (with apologies to the Japanese, who thought this was their heirloom squash and have no doubt been cross with the French ever since).
greenhouse3I have had great success overwintering my little collection of scented-leaved pelargoniums this year: this one is P. quercifolium, with pretty leaves the shape of oak leaves. I took quite a lot of cuttings this spring too as I was potting the parents on and trimming them back in their start-the-season haircut: and most of them have taken, so it’s going to be a bit of a scented-leaved pellies summer. These are going outside to harden off just as soon as there’s space in the cold frame…
greenhouse4And finally I thought it might give you a laugh to see the tip that passes for my potting bench, in one corner of the greenhouse taking up valuable room when actually it ought to be in the shed (but we didn’t get around to building it this winter).

In case you were wondering, the peanut butter is for trapping mice (I keep the last scrapings from our breakfast spread, which is why it’s three pots – only a little in each one).

Three casualties so far in the gardener-vs-whiskery ones skirmish which followed the clandestine savaging of a mangetout pea sowing one night, but it’s all gone quiet again: I even dared to put in the beans a week or so ago and nothing’s gone missing (yet). So I’m hopeful that they’ve learned their lesson and are staying clear.

I do hate trapping mice – it’s far less humane than our feral cat which is my usual control method. But they make it impossible to grow any legumes (or sweetcorn, come to think of it) if you don’t – so I grit my teeth and get on with it. Artemisia leaves laid on the floor of the greenhouse are supposed to keep them off, as is mint – they don’t like the smell, apparently. I’ll give that a try next time – but I’ll keep the traps handy, just in case.

How to plant onion sets

07 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by sallynex in videos

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Tags

onions, planting onion sets, videos

My first how-to video for the crocus.co.uk Youtube channel – all about planting onion sets. Enjoy!

Good ideas

03 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by sallynex in shows

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Tags

Edible Garden Show, good ideas

A week or so ago I was at the Edible Garden Show in London. It’s a must-attend show for me, being one of those earthy veg-growing types and a bit into my smallholding too: this is the only show of it’s size I know of that’s entirely dedicated to all things GYO.

Having said that, I’m having to convince myself of the need to go these days, as I rather agree with Emma Cooper’s take on the show. It is a shadow of its former self after moving from the National Agriculture Centre at Stoneleigh to the more confined (if better lit) surroundings of Alexandra Palace.

So I had to look a little harder for the good ideas this year: but good ideas I found. Here are just a few of the interesting, inspirational and occasionally just a little weird veggie innovations this year:

Feeding your plants with worm poo

egs1

Yep: you heard right. It does make sense, mind you: you breed lots of mealworms, plus a few beetles and suchlike, and harvest the frass (that’s what they’re calling it, and as euphemisms go it’s a good one). Then you use this plentiful but otherwise overlooked medium to feed your plants. You top-dress outdoor veg, or mix with potting compost; it’s basically your good old-fashioned manure, but a lot, lot smaller. www.ecothrive.co.uk

Unexpectedly edible flowers

edibleflowers

I’ve come across these guys before, and they always surprise me with the number of flowers you can eat. I’ve already learned not to write off edible flowers as just a fad: I now actively encourage my rocket to bolt since tasting their sweet-and-peppery petals. Anyway, thanks to the Edible Flower Shop my list got a whole lot longer: this year I plan to taste cornflowers, daisies, dianthus and hyssop, too.

Collapsible bowls

collapsiblebowl

Isn’t this a good idea? It’s a wooden bowl, but not just any old wooden bowl. Made of bamboo, cross-laminated for strength, it concertinas down flat when empty. They’ve even heat-treated the wood so it can double up as a trivet. Now that’s what I call handy. www.whotzhot.info

Seed rulers

IMG_2406

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. This beechwood ruler from Burgon & Ball is handsome and sturdy, marked up with clear measurements, but what I liked most about it was that it has handy little holes at regular intervals for perfect seed spacing. It wouldn’t work for all seeds – I’d like to see you get a courgette seed through that – but then you wouldn’t be sowing courgettes direct anyway, I hope.

Greenhouse space saver

seedtrays

I do like a pop-up solution, and this one caught my eye particularly because my greenhouse is currently at its usual crazy mid-spring logjam between seeds being sown, tender stuff not quite out in the garden yet, and seedlings waiting to be potted on. So to say space is at a premium is a little like saying they’re a bit partial to cars in Los Angeles. These fold-out shelves, each able to take six half-seed trays, might well free up the traffic jam just a little.

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