Jason has tended five successive gardens in Dorset, while writing a column for Country Life magazine. His first book took him to tea gardens in China and India, and he and his wife-to-be walked from Poland to Istanbul in 1990. Jason has been writing about Istanbul ever since, notably in his Yashim the detective series, published in 40 languages.
Simon spent over 30 years as a journalist and editor on magazines including GQ, Harper’s Bazaar and Esquire. During this time he nurtured an allotment in the centre of London and day dreamed about fleeing to the countryside. In 2011, he moved to Dorset with his wife Alexa and has spent the last 10 years happily creating a garden somewhat more ambitious than his old allotment.
Pictured here with Hector, who inspired the ‘Hequiem’ which features in the short video on this page.
Howard is celebrated for his photographs of the filmmaker Derek Jarman’s garden at Prospect Cottage in Dungeness. Since then he has worked with everyone from Christopher Lloyd and Dan Pearson to Monty Don. “It is tempting to frame a nice shot, but what does it tell you?” says Howard about taking a perfect garden photo. “You have to see something of meaning and then share it. That’s what makes photography genius.”
Charles has made gardens in New York, Saudi Arabia, London and France, and has been consultant at Sudeley Castle and Sezincote gardens.
He is currently restoring gardens at Lydney Park in Gloucestershire, and at Morton Hall, both frequently open the public and published widely in garden magazines. In 2018 Charles moved to Dorset and set up a rare plant nursery in Symondsbury offering a wide range of plants including clematis, Itoh peonies, maples, camellias, lace-cap and species hydrangeas. He has since laid out an exciting new garden alongside the nursery that he plans to open to the public in 2023.
Non is a contributing editor to House & Garden, writes regularly for Country Life and has a monthly column for The English Garden Magazine. She is currently researching a book on the cultural history of the European alpine plants.
Non’s garden design practice has gained a reputation for delivering thoughtful and uplifting gardens with a particular emphasis on creating atmosphere through imaginative planting. Her projects include gardens for the South London Gallery and St Mary the Boltons in South Kensington.
Tania is a garden designer, writer and contributing gardens editor for The World of Interiors whose spare time is spent embellishing a series of streamside meadows in Wiltshire and dyeing silk from plants in the garden. She is a Trustee of the Garden Museum.
Flora Roberts is a Dorset artist and designer, whose work is informed by a sensitive observation of nature, following plants and flowers as they come into season. Her paintings have been made into murals, wallpaper and interior textiles. She is committed to her artistic practice of painting from life.
