Fergus Garrett, the head gardener and current inspiration behind the famed Great Dixter in the UK, was in town Wednesday night for a lecture at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Mark and I and three other gardening friends were all in attendance. I grabbed a cocktail and Mark grabbed his camera and we dashed into the gardens for a brief visit before the lecture began.
Amazingly our gardening gang all pulled into the parking lot almost next to each other and thus were able to grab seats together. Since the Olbrich Atrium was packed with chairs for this sold-out event, that was quite a feat.
The Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society sponsors a trip to UK gardens every other year, so many members — including John and John (below) — have visited. These two gentlemen have a noteworthy garden of their own and also do a beautiful presentation about the UK trips to the membership.
Nancy and David Nedveck own and operate The Flower Factory, the local nursery that is my go-to source for most of the plants in my garden.
When you are gardening around a house as impressive as Dixter it does add a high level of beauty and drama to everything Fergus Garrett and his staff do. But we can follow his advice in our own gardens no matter their size or location: "Play where you can. Experiment where you can."
One day I will make it across the country to Dixter, a must see garden. Hope you enjoyed the lecture.
Posted by: rusty duck | Friday, September 06, 2019 at 10:36 AM
It looks like the event had lots to offer.
Posted by: Kris P | Friday, September 06, 2019 at 12:37 PM
So great to see the Nedvecks! Hope it was just as much fun as it looks.
Posted by: Nell | Friday, September 06, 2019 at 10:45 PM
What wonderful use you all make of your local resources; its an inspiration. While the talk sounds fascinating, I always enjoy hearing about smaller more "real life" gardens; perhaps that is why the late great Henry Mitchell is my favorite garden writer of all time - his garden joy and work was very much centered on his small urban garden, although he had great fantasy gardens as well. Doesn't everyone do that?
ceci
Posted by: ceci | Sunday, September 08, 2019 at 05:20 AM
I have to agree. While I follow Margaret Roach on her blog, her garden is way bigger than mine thus many things don't apply. Plus nobody had the wit and the ability to say something right on the border of rudeness while making it funny. I remember when he talked about old roses and said it would be worth moving to a different climate just to be able to grow them.
Posted by: Linda Brazill | Sunday, September 08, 2019 at 11:53 AM
Your reply made me look at a map of England to see where you live compared to Dixter. If I am correct, it appears that your two gardens are separated by the widest section of England.
Posted by: Linda Brazill | Sunday, September 08, 2019 at 11:54 AM
That would be about right. When we've moved house it's always been west. Running out of England now. Cornwall and the Scilly Isles. Next stop Canada or the USA!
Posted by: rusty duck | Sunday, September 08, 2019 at 03:28 PM
Oh how I would have loved being there. No surprise that it was a sold out event. Did he have anything to say that inspired you?
Posted by: Lisa at Greenbow | Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at 04:30 AM
I am planning on doing a couple of posts about things he said.
Posted by: Linda Brazill | Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at 12:39 PM