In Your Garden

"She had a way of talking about plants that was very attractive and very accurate, and she had wonderful taste. The plants that she talked about were good plants, and I like the way she described them. My love of garden design really started with a love of plants. She was one of the first gardeners I read and she was a great inspiration. I think it is because she just appeals to people. I am sure there are other great writers but they can be rather dry or boring. Her writing is never boring. It is very inclusive and you feel she is really talking to you. I think it is the magic, and the fact that in England you can grow so many different varieties of plant. The English have developed a wonderfully relaxed way of dealing with plants. They are not frightened of combinations. They are not frightened of using different sorts of plants and lots of them. Somehow, in countries where the climate isn’t so good [for gardening], I think people are more nervous. Also there isn’t the culture that the English have – the long-standing culture that is part of the English garden."