June 3rd - Val Bourne - Peonies and Roses



'Peonies and Roses: a Marriage Made in Heaven’ the title of Val Bourne’s first talk at Hill Top Gardening Club on June 3^rd recollected gardening at Spring Cottage in “Cold, Cold Aston” in the Cotswolds. The less than Edenic, wind-swept, derelict site, transformed across twenty-years to a hard-won verdant, vibrant garden was the crucible for ‘trial and error’ planting. An excellent story-teller, Val’s narrative, told with warmth and humour, quickly instilled confidence. We were in safe, expert hands, as she wove two plant histories and practical know-how into a compelling account: even for the sceptical. The history of peony breeding and the intricacy of rose selection were detailed but never dull. A professional garden-writer and plant trial judge with encyclopaedic horticultural knowledge, Val presented us with an almost bewildering array of peonies and roses to grow in inhospitable situations.

At Spring Cottage with succession planting in mind, gone were old-fashioned bare rose-beds, replaced by a dense patchwork of peonies and roses with recommended, diverse companions. Integrated sustained colour, texture and perfume informed the biodiversity that crucially sustains Val’s eco-friendly garden and organic commitment. Intimate, up-close working knowledge of a challenging site without recourse to pesticides and chemicals has sifted the wheat from the chaff to plants able to cope without cosseting. Val’s exuberant images of Spring Cottage are witness to the eclecticism and joie de vivre of a self-confessed plantaholic. Her most recent, timely publication, is ‘Tough Plants: Garden gladiators that pack a punch in extreme weather.’  

Judging by the huge number of members’ questions, cheerfully and expertly answered with down to earth help and numerous plant suggestions, Val Bourne’s talk was engaging and practically helpful. As promised, she sent plant recommendations and reading which are on HGC web-site. Time to think about planning next year’s programme: members have already requested another Val Bourne talk. 

Clare Savage ‘Digging a Career in Horticulture’. 



Listening to someone’s horticultural working-life can be illuminating: the more so if the telling is delivered with passion and self-deprecating humour. A magical moment of epiphany in the seemingly barren deserts of Australia transformed by rain ‘into an explosion of growth’ led a young Clare Savage to wonder how such extraordinary botanical transformations happened. Such botanical curiosity needed answers. An autobiographic approach provided a compelling structure as that pivotal antipodean experience shaped a vivid and varied professional career. This horticultural life was marked by study, voluntary work at Chelsea Physic Garden, serendipity, and good-luck. Looking at old photographs of Clare with gardening legends such as Beth Chatto, the role of good mentors was also evident. So too was her adaptability and willingness to travel and gain new-skills. From entry -level runner she helped bring to our TV screens a number of gardening programmes: later sourcing plants to fact-checking for presenters and keeping production running smoothly: even necessitating dog-sitting the late lamented Nigel!  Behind the scene glimpses of the technical, time-consuming complexity of producing programmes such as Gardeners’ World and Chelsea, revealed horticultural crossovers. From filming time-lapse seedlings, to mapping Spruce distribution against policy changes in Wales to visiting cocoa growers in Grenada, Clare outlined many diverse career possibilities. While film production was fascinating, the lure of hands-on gardening also beckoned and Clare enjoys work as a maintenance gardener. Many members asked questions: approaches to slug control, wild-life, working without pesticides and insecticides, weeding, film to product ratio, to garden design and how to inspire and encourage children to become gardeners?  Clare’s advice: start with the gift of a watering can. Who knows which road might be taken from watching the profound effects of water on plants? 

Pam Meecham