TO FRANCE

Reading is good but the garden is the best teacher.

Christine Allison, 1995

In April we go to the house in France traveling through the nearby chalk hills. As they emerge into spring, the hedgerows are studded with hazel catkins and lit by the bright yellow flowers of a bush I can't identify (nobody local seems to know what it is either!). A sudden rise in daytime temperatures has brought the brimstone butterflies and lizards out into the light.

Buddleia for the butterflies - but not just here...

In the large courtyard garden there are primroses, daffodils and violets vying with the faded growth of last year's hollyhocks, feverfew, dandelions and vetch. The scene is one of struggle. I need to liberate the plants we do want and, weed out those we don't, and bring the whole together in a design that reflects the form of the house and its use as combined home and showcase for Piers' photographs.

Aconites

Stunning yellow aconites are plentiful under a hazel bush and I can't resist digging some to take home to plant under the wayfaring tree in the Dorset garden. This is a pleasing synergy.

The garden in Burgundy covers about 250 Sq meters and is bounded by walls on all sides. There are areas of deep shade, dappled shade and direct sunlight and the soil is free-draining and friable. I am not an expert in French gardens, even though I enjoying reading the French gardening magazines, so I must follow my instincts and create something that uses the existing plants and a combination of new sculptural plants that add a green foil to the 'noble' building and are suitable for periods of neglect...