I’ve been very fortunate to have travelled extensively through the Saxon villages area of Transylvania in central Romania. This came about initially through a botanist friend, Dr John Akeroyd, who had been studying the flora and culture of the region for a number of years, and who despaired that so few people knew about this beautiful area. It was a logical step for me to say we should make a Transylvanian garden at Chelsea, something which occupied us on and off for well over a decade as we tried to secure funding, until finally succeeding for the 2018 show – only for the sponsor to withdraw at the last minute.
It was hugely disappointing but has been an incredible experience to get to know this little known region in eastern Europe so I was thrilled that the Garden Design Journal asked me to write a feature on the region, its flora and how we might have brought it to Chelsea.
