Planting Combinations #4

From Jasper Conran's Dorset garden

When I first went to see Jasper Conran’s garden in 2021 I was bowled over by the colours and the wonderful painterly mix of plants in his borders. I knew I was going to fall in love with his garden having seen his Instagram photos of his cottage garden borders, often taken from the terrace in front of the house, the borders framed by lichen-patina’d gateposts with a froth of erigeron underneath. With the gentle Dorset landscape rolling away to the south, there could not be a more bucolic and mood-enhancing view. Andrew Montgomery photographed the garden first for House & Garden and then for our book, Pastoral Gardens, and the photos in this post were taken by him. I look at two specific combinations for June in this post - both feature easy-to-get-hold-of cottage garden plants that anyone can grow.

Border 1 Analysis

I love the haphazard, thrown-together look of these borders and the bright, painterly colours. You can tell that it’s a garden owned by a designer and painter. The cottage garden borders at the front of the house were anchored with box balls in each corner of the quadrangle, but within each bed was a wild, tangled mass of plants that epitomised the abundance of summer. Jasper picks cut flowers from these borders, starting with tulips in spring, roses in summer and ending with dahlias, with all the summer favourites in between.

The beds can be foraged for food too, in true old fashioned cottage garden style, with herbs, edible flowers and even the odd gooseberry bush hidden in the mass. A line of raspberry canes borders one of the paths, while another is edged with chives and alchemilla.

The charm of these borders is that they seem effortless and timeless. They have the look of an impressionist painting with daubs of colour - random yet harmonious. There are repeated plants throughout, but with nothing to suggest an ordered planting plan. The patterns and rhythms of nature provide the inspiration. I didn’t note the specific rose varieties he grew here but have suggested similar to get the look.