The Simon Scott Landscaping Garden WOW list

In the last WOW list of the year, we focus on the brilliant ‘ONE Garden Brighton’ at Stanmer Park, East Sussex, full of the beauty of the changing seasons providing wonderul inspiration for all. We also find some vintage garden wares and discover foraging workshops. We get excited about planting bulbs for Christmas presents and think to the future for bulbs in Springtime. We link to some instagram account must follows, all of whom generously provide excellent bulb planting top tips as well sharing wonderful garden knowledge. We end with the Garden WOW dates for your diary with some not to be missed Spring time events next year. Welcome back to the Simon Scott Landscaping WOW List!

The WOW of One Garden, Brighton

We’ve been meaning to check out One Garden, Brighton in Stanmer Park since it opened and were happy to finally find the time to discover it in person last month. The renovation of the walled garden was designed by Landscape Architect Dominic Cole, it celebrates heritage and innovation, and we would highly recommend a visit. For those growers reading this there is a productive side of the walled garden focusing on using traditional vegetable and fruit crops, including a cut flower garden.

There is also a series of show gardens, which, as well as being a joy to walk through, also have the aim to educate people who garden and design. These gardens are particularly relevant for people gardening in often difficult urban conditions or smaller spaces. The show gardens are all about inspiration and practical take home ideas, with the gardens and plants clearly labelled and we found there were gardeners and studentswho were very happy to answer questions. Show gardens are varied in character and form and include the contemplation garden, the urban garden, the pollinator garden, the rain garden, and the hot and dry garden. The latter surely a must visit in relation to the changing climate conditions our gardens are now needing to cope with.

The seasonal interest garden was designed to highlight a range of plants that offer interest each season, so that the garden performs all year round. It was lovely to see the number of plants that were still bringing colour and texture to so much of the garden when we visited in late Autumn. In fact, in 2023 we plan to visit throughout the year and loved the generous addition of the list of ‘plants in flower this month’.

There is also a medical show garden, showcasing the multitude of plants that we have used for centuries to alleviate symptoms and treat illness, which was great to compare with the Firle Herb Garden, as highlighted in previous blogs. The restoration of the garden was managed by Plumpton College and the garden is the College’s horticultural centre of excellence, where students train in design, horticulture, and maintenance, so it is little wonder the gardens looks so great. There is also a café to enjoy food and drink, the ingredients of which are sourced from both the garden and other local producers. If you feel inspired, there is also a plant nursery and a vibrant seasonal events schedule and workshop programme. Lots of Christmas market weekends coming up and if you are interested in finding out more about medicinal plants you might be interested in the ‘Introduction to herbalism and plant medicine’ workshop happening on 22^nd December. We were delighted to discover such a garden WOW, providing inspiration on so many different levels on our doorstep.

‘WOW’ Stanmer Creatives

Nestled in the heart of Stanmer Park is the location for Stanmer Creatives and it happens to be just next to One Garden, so while we were there we just had to have a look. Some interesting vintage (and new) garden finds including these rustic watering cans of times past – would LOVE a couple of these in our garden. There is also an array of craft artists based here, a real eclectic mix including the home for Urban Forages (a past professional masterchef finalist no less) who run seasonal workshops for foraging, which might be of interest for anyone who enjoyed our Forest, Woods and Fantastic Fungi Garden WOW List. We advise checking opening times before you visit.

WOW bulbs for presents and favourite top tips from instagram

Without giving too much away to any friends and family who may be peeking at this blog, we are determined to plant most of our presents this year (shhhh…..don’t tell them!) Amaryllis, Muscari, Narcissus, and tulips are all waiting to be prepared and lovingly put together for both indoor and outdoor pots. Bulbs are like buried treasures that always bring such delight and wonder as they emerge slowly under the correct conditions. It’s a present that can bring joy for many weeks, from the giving of the pot, the emerging of the fresh green beginnings of the growth and then the daily delight of how much it has grown (daily checking in our house) to the finale when the flower beautifully uncurls in a flourish of showing off! The joy this present brings can last for weeks! Every one of the beautiful ‘Snowy White Amaryllis’ we planted last year had two stems with at least three magnificent flowerheads on each, it made our January last year!

There are some super brilliant people on Instagram, who give top tips for growing bulbs. Much more detailed and with much more finesse than we ever could, so it is over to them to inspire to you! Find the Instagram links below to get inspired and start planting.

We have featured Garden Designer Ann Marie Powell’s wonderful My Real Garden account before on the ‘WOW’ List. So much inspiration from this Instagram feed which was set up during Covid and went from strength-to-strength nurturing and creating a wonderful garden community. For the brilliant story of the development of this account and the book that came from it check out the My Real Garden website. Also see the brilliant Top tips post with details for planting Narcissus Paper-whites and Amaryllis bulbs indoors as well as a video which talks you through the whole process.

We have also recently been introduced to the Instagram account of Anya Lautenback anya_thegarden_fairy who amongst lots of brilliant propagation and garden maintenance tips, also shares some lovely ideas for planted Christmas gifts. Her ‘How to plant Muscari pot’ post is beautiful in all its simplicity, and we cannot wait to see ours emerge in Springtime.

Pollyanna Wilkinson Instagram feed, pollyanna_wilkinson, as well as featuring her beautifully designed gardens is always full of simple bite sized top gardening and garden design tips. Her general rule for planting tulips is a straightforward rule ‘if you shiver when you go outside they are ready to go in the ground’ see video here –  The time is now people! She also has a great video tutorial for planting Narcissus Paper-white and we love love love her brilliant tip of using a vodka solution to stop the plants from flopping. We’ve never heard that one before and will definitely be trying it!

Garden WOW Dates for your Diary!

4^th February 23, Lewes, East Sussex Seedy Saturday

21-23 April 23, Firle, Nr Lewes The Garden Show at Firle Place