Gardens Illustrated Magazine

Widely regarded as the Vogue of the gardening press, Gardens Illustrated aims to inspire you with an eclectic and international editorial mix of remarkable places, plants and people. With superb photography, authoritative journalism and exceptional design, this award-winning magazine is a style bible for garden designers, garden lovers and enthusiasts alike.

Editor’s letter

Contributors

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Gardens Illustrated

DIG IN • What’s happening, what’s in flower and what to buy this month

News

3 FOR THE GARDEN… VERTICAL PLANTERS

DIARY

KITTED OUT • For small gardens

August plants • From palmate foliage to eye-catching perennials, Jimi’s August selection favours architectural specimens and plants that flower late into the season

Places to visit • Recommended places to see seasonal plants at their best

LABOURS OF LOVE • If you’ve shown your plants enough care and attention, you’ll be reaping the rewards this month, so between sowing late carrots and planting out cabbages, find time to make a tasty tomato tart

Jobs for August

ELLIE PAY • As senior propagator for the National Trust’s Plant Conservation Centre and co-creator of the Young Propagators Society, Ellie is committed to advancing sustainable horticulture

A gardener’s garden • Helen Dillon’s dazzling Dublin plot is packed with rare and unusual specimens in masterful juxtaposition with more familiar species, all grown with the utmost skill and dedication

IN BRIEF

24 KEY PLANTS

TULBAGHIA • New forms of these little-known gems with their umbels of dainty, tubular flowers and often delicious scent are at last finding their way into nurseries and gardens – and rightly so

PLANT PROFILE

IN BRIEF

STRUCTURAL MOVEMENT • Shape is paramount in Louise Dowding’s theatrical garden on the Somerset Levels

DAVE GOULSON • The biologist and author on environmental awareness, his switch from butterflies to bumblebees and his mission to share his love of insects with the world

THE BEST HARDY ANNUALS TO SOW NOW • The spring seed-sowing window may have closed, but for the gardener Vita Sackville-West, sowing in open ground in late summer and early autumn was better by far. ‘The resultant plants will be sturdier and will come into flower earlier than those we sow in the spring,’ she wrote. Three modern plantswomen offer their own suggestions of the best hardy annuals – from short-lived geraniums and cheerful poppies to native clover and bee-friendly borage – to sow now and get ahead for a strong summer display next year

Jenny Barnes • Jenny is head gardener at Cottesbrooke Hall, Northamptonshire. She has a particular interest in roses and a sculptural pruning technique.

Hannah Gardner • Hannah is a widely travelled horticulturist and garden writer. She is currently head gardener at Blackland House, an organic garden and flower farm in Wiltshire.

WHERE TO BUY • Recommended hardy annual seed suppliers

Derry Watkins • Author and plantsperson Derry is the owner of Special Plants Nursery in Wiltshire, where she grows unusual plants from all over the world.

Cool, calm and connected • Designers Harriet Farlam and Ben Chandler have squeezed much into this serene town garden on the north Kent coast

KEY ELEMENTS

Serenity in the city • In Bristol Artisan Landscapes have created a calming tranquil space that invites the owners to immerse themselves in its cool, textural greens

KEY ELEMENTS

Creating a city sanctuary • Ideas to help bring calm to a small space

KEY ELEMENTS

Mini meadow • For this garden in north London, designer Jenny Bloom drew inspiration from the unusually wild landscape on its...