Since March 2023, Head Gardener James Horner has led the rigorous work of renewing Cedric Morris’ walled garden at Benton End – an approach that aims to evoke the spirit of the place as a hotbed of creativity and plantsmanship.
Drawing on his training at Great Dixter and his experience as an international garden maker, James has said that every day has mattered over the last three years: turning around a slumbering garden and conjuring one full of Cedric’s plants and spirit of place.
James is joined in conversation by florist Shane Connolly and photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo who has been documenting the garden’s renewal. They will be sharing their own perspectives on Benton End’s plants, atmosphere, and afterlife in gardens and images beyond the walls. This talk at The Garden Museum will be livestreamed (the live presentation is already sold out). £10 Livestream. Register at https://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/james-horner-ngoc-minh-ngo-and-shane-connolly-on-benton-end-remaking-a-garden/
Carved into the volcanic rock of Ischia, La Mortella is one of Italy’s most extraordinary gardens, a place of rare plants, cascading water, and an almost otherworldly beauty. Created by the composer William Walton and his wife Susana in the 1950s, it was landscape architect Russell Page who shaped its initial form, designing the valley garden and its sequence of fountains. Page’s archive now resides here at the Garden Museum, making this an evening with a particular resonance and 2026 a special year as La Mortella celebrates the centenary of Lady Susana Walton.
Join Alessandra Vinciguerra, Director of La Mortella, for a talk exploring the history, horticulture, and enduring vision behind this remarkable place, from its origins as a rocky hillside to the lush, layered landscape it is today. Vinciguerra will share the stories and the people that have shaped La Mortella, and reflect on what it means to steward a garden of such singular character. Register for the £10 Livestream at The Garden Museum website HERE.
Join The Garden Museum on September 8 online for an evening in conversation with Julia Boulton, CEO of Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens; John Little of the Grass Roof Company; Daryl Moore of Cityscapes, and wildlife advocate Chris Gibson, as they explore the power of ecological planting to transform the places we live, work and share.
At a time when our public spaces are expected to do more than ever – for people, wildlife and the climate – this discussion will examine how thoughtful planting can reshape neglected urban landscapes, streets, parks and new residential developments into vibrant, resilient places that are rich in character, support biodiversity, and foster stronger connections between communities and the natural world.
Drawing on Beth Chatto’s philosophy of “right plant, right place” the speakers will explore how selecting plants that are naturally suited to their environment can create landscapes that are both beautiful and resilient. Sharing their experience of planting into sand and rubble to create thriving habitats in the most challenging urban conditions, the panel will discuss practical approaches that embrace rather than fight the realities of a site.
Rooted in the pioneering principles established by Beth Chatto, the speakers will explore how the ethos that defines Beth Chatto’s Plant & Gardens has inspired projects far beyond the garden gates. Moderated by Julia Boulton, the panel will examine how thoughtful design, resilient plant communities and sustainable horticultural practises can create public spaces that are both beautiful, biodiverse and enduring.
The conversation will highlight projects inspired by Beth Chatto’s ethos: the award-winning Meanwhile Garden in central Colchester, the nearby Albert roundabout and Chattowood housing development; demonstrating how ecological planting can transform overlooked corners of our towns and cities, or shape new neighbourhoods; showing how ecological planting offers an opportunity to create places that are not only more sustainable and climate resilient, but also more welcoming and enriching for everyone who uses them.
The discussion will cover practical approaches to increasing biodiversity, selecting plants that thrive in challenging conditions, working with different substrates, and managing planting schemes for long-term success. The speakers will also reflect on the collaborations, partnerships and shared expertise that have helped bring the Beth Chatto approach into the public realm. £10 Livestream Register at www.gardenmuseum.org.uk
This autumn, Garden/Art/Garden is a new series of Garden Museum talks chaired by Tim Richardson bringing together curators, gardeners, and artists exploring gardens, landscape, and environment as artistic practice. From modern Japanese gardens to experimental land art, wilderness and utopia to environmental hopes and challenges, join us to stretch our ideas of what gardens and place can mean as artistic practice in an era of climate change.
Coming up in our first session on Tuesday 15 September, environmental artist Chris Drury – whose large-scale works have sparked international debate about fossil fuels and dying forests – describes his practice and why he resists the ‘Land Artist’ label. He is joined by curator and writer Ben Tufnell, whose decades of thinking on art, land and nature make him one of the field’s most authoritative voices.
Tues 15 September, 6.30pm GMT. £10 Livestream available, watch live or on demand, Register at gardenmuseum.org.uk
This Garden Museum event is the second in a series of talks run in partnership with Beth Chatto’s Gardens. Join us to explore the friendship between Beth Chatto and the painter and plantsman Cedric Morris – two pioneering figures who shaped the course of British gardening.
A horticultural protégé of Cedric Morris, the gardener and writer Beth Chatto credited Benton End with opening her eyes to what a garden could be. On Morris’s advice, she moved house to open her Colchester nursery on a site with better soil conditions, and later became one of the most influential gardeners of her generation.
Julia Boulton (CEO, Beth Chatto’s), Åsa Gregers-Warg (Head Gardener, Beth Chatto’s), Matt Collins (Head Gardener, Garden Museum) and Beatrice Prosser-Snelling (Project Director, Benton End House and Gardens) will join in conversation to tell the story of how Benton End – the historic Suffolk home and garden of Cedric Morris – relates to that of Beth Chatto’s Gardens. Expect a discussion between two places bound by friendship, a shared plant philosophy, and an enduring influence on the way we think about plants, gardens, and the natural world.
This event coincides with Benton End: A Paradise of Pollen and Paint, an exhibition that will explore the artistic and horticultural influence of Benton End, the Suffolk home, garden and art school led by artist plantsman Sir Cedric Morris and his life partner, artist Arthur Lett-Haines.
Join The Garden Museum online on May 20 for an extraordinary evening with Kazuyuki Ishihara – the Japanese garden designer christened the “Magician of Greenery” by the late Queen Elizabeth II after she encountered his breathtaking work at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
This year, Ishihara will exhibit the Tokonoma Garden – Samumaya no Niwa, a nostalgic Japanese courtyard garden that invites visitors to reflect, connect, and appreciate traditional beauty.
Born in Nagasaki, Ishihara began his journey studying Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, before finding his singular vision: weaving traditional Japanese elements – stone gardens, bonsai, moss – into an internationally acclaimed design language. Since his Chelsea debut in 2004, he has amassed an extraordinary 12 gold medals, and in 2025 took home both Garden of the Year and the People’s Choice Award for his garden Cha No Niwa.
In this rare and intimate lecture, Ishihara will share the philosophy, craft and creative process behind his celebrated gardens. £10 Livestream. Register at www.gardenmuseum.org
Join The Garden Museum online on April 28 for a lecture exploring the extraordinary life and work of Kenyan poet, civil servant, and artist Khadambi Asalache, whose home at 575 Wandsworth Road stands as one of London’s most quietly remarkable interiors.
Since moving into the property in 1981, Asalache spent decades transforming the house into an intricate work of art, carving fretwork from salvaged timber to cover almost every surface of the building. Now cared for by the National Trust, the house has attracted growing recognition as an exceptional and deeply personal creative achievement.
Less well known is Asalache’s relationship with the garden.
In this lecture, artist, poet and academic Edward Adonteng, who has been researching Asalache’s life and practice, brings new attention to his work as a gardener, and asks what the garden meant to a man for whom making and beauty were inseparable.
At the height of the war around Kyiv in 2022, photographer Sergii Polezhaka began documenting war-torn gardens – an abandoned tank amid neat rows of vegetables; cherry blossom trees with trenches dug around their roots to preserve them; a tended rose garden beside a bombed ruin.
These images tell the story of a resilient nation. In Ukraine, the words land, soil, country and place share a single word – zemlya – and these gardens offer a powerful new lens through which to understand the ongoing war.
Sergii and his wife Maria, also a garden photographer, join Clare Foster in conversation to share these haunting images and their experience of living through the conflict.
Join the Garden Museum online on Tuesday, April 26 at 3 pm Eastern time. A recording will subsequently be available to registrants. Register at www.gardenmuseum.org.uk
25% of ticket sales will be donated to the Memory Garden, on the grounds of the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine in Pyrohiv for those who have lost loved ones in the war.
The Marchioness of Cholmondeley Rose Cholmondeley, Tania Compton and Todd Longstaffe-Gowan discuss the latest developments at Houghton Hall and Cholmondeley Castle, reflecting on recent changes to both historic landscapes and sharing plans for future initiatives, such as Tulips at Houghton, a major new spring event launching in April 2026.
Constructed in the 1720s for Britain’s first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, Houghton Hall is now the residence of the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, a direct descendant of Sir Robert Walpole, and his family. The Hall, surrounded by extensive parkland, is known for its iconic white fallow deer and features notable attractions including an award-winning Walled Garden
Cholmondeley Castle Gardens were originally laid out in the early 19th Century using architectural elements from the formal gardens of the Old Hall. Nestled within historic parkland, the 70 acres of beautiful gardens offer magnificent displays throughout the seasons and are filled with colour and botanical delights.
Todd Longstaffe-Gowan is a Trustee of both Cholmondeley Castle Gardens and Houghton Hall, and alongside the Marchioness of Cholmondeley Rose Cholmondeley will explore the thinking behind the planting, the challenges of working within historic garden settings, and how large-scale seasonal displays can offer fresh perspectives on established landscapes.
This Garden Museum talk will be livestreamed for £10 and you may register at www.gardenmuseum.org/uk
Save the date! The next Garden Museum Literary Festival will take place at Melbourne Hall, Derbyshire, on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 June 2026, hosted by the Marquis and Marchioness of Lothian. Book your stay at www.gardenmuseum.org.uk
Join us for two days of conversation and inspiration, with talks by garden designers, writers and makers, with plenty of relaxed time to explore the gardens at Melbourne Hall in between. With sweeping lawns, charming avenues, and captivating vistas, Melbourne Hall is a true treasure of early 18th-century English garden design.
It was laid out by Rt. Hon Thomas Coke, Vice Chamberlain to Queen Anne, with help from the garden landscape designers George London and Henry Wise in the formal style. It is noted for its long tunnel of Yew, its wrought iron arbour created by Robert Bakewell and its statuary by Jan van Nost, notably the Four seasons monument, a gift from Queen Anne.
The Marquis of Lothian took over running the Melbourne estate in 1987. His wife the Marchioness of Lothian is a painter of both portraits and landscapes. Her passion for gardening has developed the garden at Melbourne in many ways. Her eye for colour and detail means that the Melbourne garden is a haven of delightful and unusual specimen trees, shrubs and herbaceous borders.
