WHO SAYS GARDEN HISTORY IS BORING?

At Hampton Court Flower Festival last Monday, award-winning Cowbridge garden designer Anthea Guthrie won a Gold Medal and was awarded The Best Historic Garden honour with her garden ‘Botanica World Discoveries: Winnie the Pooh Begins His Journey’. 

Anthea was thrilled with the success and recognises la garden history course she attended at Cardiff University, held by Garden Historian, Stephen Parker as inspiration for the original idea;

 "My inspiration originally came from Stephen Parker's  'They made a garden' course at Cardiff University, which included writers' gardens - they were highly creative.  Stephen's presentations were truly eye opening and I began to think about doing a garden with a writer's retreat.  I added a further dimension to humanise it and give it a sense of time.   The 'hand, head and heart' ethos of the arts and crafts movement, the huge interest in the natural, and the idea of inspiration coming from a child all came together to make 'Winnie the Pooh begins his journey'.  Garden history is a wonderful subject full of interest to anyone who loves social history, design, and of course gardens.”