Something Borrowed

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 

During the gardening season, I try to visit as many gardens as time allows; there is no better way to learn about plantsmanship and garden design. And, if I see a particular plant or good design idea that strikes my fancy, I am not ashamed to say that I will often "borrow" it directly or translate it somehow to fit our own gardens. If there was such a thing as "garden plagiarism" then, I admit, I could possibly find myself in a little trouble. On the other hand, it was the English author Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832) who first said "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" and since at one point in his lifetime Colton was the vicar of Kew (the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens), I'm assuming he knew a little something about gardening and thus also had the realm of horticulture in mind when he came up with that little ditty. That kind of reasoning probably wouldn't hold up in a court of law, defending against a suit of garden plagiarism, but it's good enough for a gardening blog.

A Behind The Scenes Look at Hidcote

From Vermont to the Cotswolds

Few of us get the opportunity to work in one of the great gardens of the world.  In the case of Vermont resident Helen O'Donnell, one great garden is not enough. Helen is spending the next month working at Lawrence Johnston's magnificent Hidcote Garden, in Gloucestershire, England and in 2012 she will spend time gardening at Great Dixter, the gardens of the late Christopher Lloyd.