20 June 5, 2022The Sunday TimesHome
VISIONS/NOVA PHOTO GRAPHIK/JONATHAN BUCKLEY/DAVE BEVAN/GAP PHOTOS; AVALON RED/JOSIE ELIAS/ALAMY
E
very year I am
asked the same
question. What’s
“in” in gardening?
Which are the
themes, colours and, above
all, plants that every gardener
will be clamouring for? It’s
generally a lighthearted
invitation to highlight the
new and fashionable.
More often than not I’m at
a loss as to how to respond.
There’s no question that
fashions and trends are as
prevalent in gardening as in
anything else. Just as formal
gardens were swept aside
under the influence of
Capability Brown’s naturalistic
designs — albeit achieved in
the most contrived way — and
well-behaved borders verging
on twee gave way entirely to
relaxed new perennial
planting styles, it would be
disingenuous to suggest that
we gardeners are immune to
the zeitgeist that pulls us all
this way and that.
Plants do go in and out of
fashion. One that has stageda rapid rise from the doldrums
to popularity is the gladiolus.
Banish all associations with
Dame Edna from your mind.
Along with other mid-century
design, furniture and
paintings, glads, with their
Fifties and Sixties colours, are
once again the height of chic.
Might the celebrations for the
Queen’s Platinum Jubilee have
something to do with this rise
in popularity? The doyenne of
florists Constance Spry — who
designed the flowers for the
Coronation and the luncheon
that followed — included
gladioli in the arrangements,
with roses, delphiniums,
sweet peas and carnations.
Yet some people I’ve
spoken to recently are still not
fully on board: one of my
most stylish friends described
them as “aggressive”. She’s
quite correct. The name
gladiolus shares the same root
as gladiator. Gladius means
“sword” in Latin, and the
spear-like upward-thrusting
flower spikes are the
horticultural antithesis of aGlads, with
their Fifties
and Sixties
colours, are
once again
the height
of chicGLAD ALL
OVER
Mid-century design is back in fashion, and
so too is the venerable gladiolus — just
banish its association with Dame Edna
RACHEL
DE THAME
@RacheldeThame1 2