Last May I gave a talk at the Leconfield restaurant in Petworth which was followed by a delicious dinner! The evening was a huge success and they asked me to do another talk for them, this time on Winter Gardens. Many people believe that the garden should be ‘put to bed’ for the winter. The reality of this is that for a quarter of the year, garden owners are looking out onto bare earth; this at a time of year when it’s pretty dreary already!
I used to hate winter until I reached ‘a certain age’ and realised I couldn’t afford to let so much of the year go by without actively enjoying it, so I set out to look for the positives. It made me realise that what I liked about winter, and what I disliked about it, was exactly the same as what I liked and disliked about summer – the dislikes being too much rain, too little sun but oh when the light is good it’s totally magical (and there are just as many good days in winter as in summer).
Looking for the positives made me see that in winter you can appreciate the structure of a garden when not lost in the blowsiness of summer, you can appreciate the contrasts in light or the subtlety of light when it’s composed of simple shades of grey, and most of all you can appreciate winter as a beautiful, colourful and inspiring season with its own charm, to be enjoyed every bit as much as spring, summer and autumn.
My talk, illustrated as always, will be at the award winning Leconfield restaurant in Petworth, on Wednesday 10th February and will be followed by a delicious dinner. What’s not to like! Contact the Leconfield direct for tickets and I look forward to seeing you there!
