{"id":32765,"date":"2024-02-27T15:34:48","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T14:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/3cfc3d7e-3cc7-4ad2-9ced-da5d27b42806"},"modified":"2024-02-27T19:36:10","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T18:36:10","slug":"legendary-nurserywoman-elizabeth-strangmans-garden-showcases-her-signature-hellebores-and-a-wealth-of-beautiful-spring-plants","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/rss_feed\/legendary-nurserywoman-elizabeth-strangmans-garden-showcases-her-signature-hellebores-and-a-wealth-of-beautiful-spring-plants\/","title":{"rendered":"Legendary nurserywoman Elizabeth Strangman’s garden showcases her signature hellebores and a wealth of beautiful spring plants"},"content":{"rendered":"

After closing her renowned nursery, Elizabeth Strangman has poured her energies into developing her private garden, which showcases a wealth of plants beginning with her signature hellebores. Photographs Nicky Flint <\/p>

By Jonny Bruce\n <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 27 February 2024 at 14:34 PM<\/p>

\n\n

It was a great loss to British horticulture when in 1999, Elizabeth Strangman closed the doors of Washfield Nursery in Kent. In the 30 or so years after taking over from Hilda Davenport-Jones in 1968, she established Washfield as one of the finest perennial<\/a> nurseries in the country, with a particular focuson the breeding of hellebores<\/a>.<\/p>

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Although it was a difficult decision for Elizabeth to close the nursery, she never stopped gardening. Many plants moved with her to a new home in East Sussex, where she bought a Grade II-listed cottage, its timber frame dating back to the 15th century. This characterful house provides a satisfying backdrop to the garden that she has tended for the past 20 years \u2013 a garden where her skill and knowledge reveals itself at every turn.<\/p>
Elizabeth developed her strains of hybrid hellebores over her 30 or so years of careful selection at Washfield Nursery. Some of these plants migrated with her to this garden, where she dutifully maintains them, deadheading to prevent self-seeding and mulching to ensure the healthiest and most floriferous plants.\u00a9 Nicky Flint<\/figcaption><\/figure>
While I worked at Great Dixter<\/a>, I was lucky to visit Elizabeth a number of times. My first visit was in late February<\/a> when her spring<\/a> garden was in full glory. Moving down a gentle slope towards the River Rother, hellebores, crocus<\/a> and other early flowering plants spill out along a gravel<\/a> and brick path<\/a>, feathering the transition from this space into the summer<\/a> garden area. By dividing the garden in this way, Elizabeth is able to enjoy the full intensity of spring without compromise, and she explains the necessity for periods of visual rest, so your focus can be drawn to other parts of the garden later in the season.<\/p>
Apart from the now magnificent multi-stemmed acer, which rises above the spring garden, little remains of what existed before. Assisted by her friend and former Washfield employee Edward Flint, she dismantled the existing rockery<\/a>, repurposing the stones and bringing in timber to make raised beds<\/a>. As well as helping to level the slope<\/a>, these beds ensure good drainage for Elizabeth\u2019s unusual plant collection.<\/p>
$\"Helleborus$
Helleborus<\/em> x hybridus<\/em> Picotee Group<\/strong> Over the years, Elizabeth has established relatively stable hellebore breeding lines through her technique of hand-pollinating plants in the open ground without the risk of crossing. Of all her selections, she is proudest of her picotees \u2013 defined by a distinct dark edge to the sepals, often with prominent veining. 70cm. RHS H7\u2020. \u00a9 Nicky Flint<\/figcaption><\/figure>However, Elizabeth\u2019s garden got off to a shaky start when, in December 2000, it was submerged under almost two metres of water <\/a>after the Rother burst its banks, washing away much of the initial planting.This trauma was set to recur a number of times before the local authority put in sufficient flood defences<\/a>. Surveying the tapestry of spring bulbs<\/a> among the stems of mature shrubs and emerging shoots of perennials, it\u2019s hard to imagine such damage; rather its comfortable maturity is remarkable.<\/p>
\u201cThe soil<\/a> is extremely good,\u201d says Elizabeth, as I bend to inspect the ground, a deep alluvial soil, which she has improved over the years <\/a>with consistent application of mulch<\/a>. This combination of moisture retention and drainage provides ideal conditions for her hellebores. While some mistakenly relegate these heralds of spring to dry shade<\/a>, the best flowering comes from consistent moisture and more light than their woodland reputation might imply.<\/p>
$\"Elizabeth$
Under the stretching arms of mature shrubs, the hellebores provide a long-lasting middle storey above the undercarpet of bulbs, which emerge in well-composed succession throughout the spring. Elizabeth\u2019s garden is a masterclass in balancing a celebration of the fullness of spring and later seasonal interest, by combining layers of plants in mixed borders.. \u00a9 Nicky Flint<\/figcaption><\/figure>
In shade that\u2019s too dense, hellebores tend to produce large leaves at the expense of flowers, but in Elizabeth\u2019s garden, under the fine cover of the deciduous acer, the plants are full of blooms. Many nurseries used to split and divide hellebores, but it was clear to Elizabeth this weakened the plants and that it was far better to develop reliable seed strains. \u201cSeedling hellebores are so much stronger,\u201d she explains. All the plants in Elizabeth\u2019s garden are seed raised.<\/p>
$\"Epimedium$
Epimedium<\/em> \u2018Black Sea\u2019 <\/strong>Elizabeth collects epimediums for their hardiness as well as their beauty. This one has exceptional foliage that flushes dark purple as temperatures drop. Its rounded, lemon-coloured sepals are overlaid with red. 40cm. RHS H6, USDA 5a-8b. \u00a9 Nicky Flint<\/figcaption><\/figure>Now in her eighties, Elizabeth still does most of the gardening herself, spending weeks deadheading<\/a> the hellebores to prevent self-seeding and ruthlessly removing any plants showing signs of virus. \u201cI have zero tolerance for disease,\u201d she says. While one corner of her garden holds the many hybrids she brought from Washfield, there are also a number of wild species, some of which Elizabeth collected on her multiple trips to the Balkans. She has always been critical of indiscriminate collecting, but was responsible for several exciting wild introductions, including two of the early double forms of Helleborus torquatus<\/em>, which she named \u2018Dido\u2019 and \u2018Aeneas\u2019. Despite their novelty, these did not proveto be good garden plants, and her later doubles derived rather from crosses between Helleborus<\/em> x hybridus<\/em> \u2018G\u00fcnther J\u00fcrgl\u2019 and Helleborus<\/em> x hybridus<\/em> \u2018Snow Queen\u2019, which she sourced from Germany.<\/p>
$\"Light$ Light catching the impressive red petals of Trillium kurabayashii, one of the largest and most ornamental of its genus. Once established in a deep, moisture-retentive soil in partial shade, this California native is a reliable and long-lived perennial. Elizabeth secured a piece from her father, who was a keen plantsman in his retirement. \u00a9 Nicky Flint<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Walking with Elizabeth around her garden, you become acutely conscious of the very personal relationship she has with all her plants. They represent not only her own journey as a gardener, but are also reminders of her numerous horticultural friendships. \u201cPeople were so generous to me,\u201d she explains, recalling a time when Martyn Rix<\/a> sent her seed of Epimedium davidii<\/em> \u2013 a much desired plant that at the time was not in cultivation. In the garden today, she still has a corner of choice epimediums, and it is important to recognise that this garden is far more than a collection of hellebores. <\/p>
While she has flown somewhat below the radar since the closure of Washfield, it is clear that Elizabeth\u2019s eye for a good garden plant is as sharp as ever. <\/p>
Hellebores from Elizabeth Strangman’s garden<\/strong><\/p>
Helleborus<\/em> x hybridus<\/em> Picotee Group <\/strong><\/p>
$\"Helleborus$
Helleborus x hybridus Picotee Group Over the years, Elizabeth has established relatively stable hellebore breeding lines through her technique of hand-pollinating plants in the open ground without the risk of crossing. Of all her selections, she is proudest of her picotees \u2013 defined by a distinct dark edge to the sepals, often with prominent veining. 70cm. RHS H7\u2020. \u00a9 Nicky Flint<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Over the years, Elizabeth has established relatively stable hellebore breeding lines through her technique of hand-pollinating plants in the open ground without the risk of crossing. Of all her selections, she is proudest of her picotees \u2013 defined by a distinct dark edge to the sepals, often with prominent veining. 70cm. RHS H7\u2020.<\/p>
Helleborus<\/em> x hybridus<\/em> yellow <\/strong><\/p>
$\"Helleborus$
\u00a9 Nicky Flint<\/figcaption><\/figure>
One of Elizabeth\u2019s purest yellows. By back-crossing yellower forms of H. odorus with H. x hybridus, she has succeeded in producing some excellent yellows with red hearts and golden nectaries. 70cm. RHS H7.<\/p>
Helleborus<\/em> x hybridus<\/em> \u2018Queen of the Night\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>
$\"Helleborus$
\u00a9 Nicky Flint<\/figcaption><\/figure>
A rich purple-black selection. Elizabeth used some dark wild forms but her early selections used cultivated plants as parents. Eric Smith\u2019s H. x hybridus \u2018Pluto\u2019 was a important parent for these. 70cm. RHS H7.<\/p>
Helleborus<\/em> x hybridus<\/em> white with red heart <\/strong><\/p>
$\"Helleborus$
\u00a9 Nicky Flint<\/figcaption><\/figure>
A seedling Elizabeth developed while working with Thompson & Morgan. A really clean white that contrasts beautifully with its red eye and comes reliably true from seed. 70cm. RHS H7.<\/p>
Helleborus<\/em> x hybridus<\/em> green with red speckles <\/strong><\/p>
$\"Helleborus$
\u00a9\u00a0Nicky Flint<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Elizabeth is adamant that a hellebore\u2019s charm is in the moment of reveal when you turn its face. The hanging flowers also protect the pollen-laden anthers from the winter rains. 70cm. RHS H7.<\/p>
Helleborus<\/em> x hybridus<\/em> good red <\/strong><\/p>
$\"Helleborus$
\u00a9 Nicky Flint<\/figcaption><\/figure>
While originally many selections were created from open pollinated plants, Elizabeth spent years carefully selecting and hand pollinating to ensure uniformity within her strains. These reds were specially selected for their ability to hold their colour as they died off, giving a much longer season of interest. 70cm. RHS H7.<\/p>
Helleborus<\/em> x hybridus<\/em> speckled white <\/strong><\/p>
$\"Helleborus$
\u00a9 Nicky Flint<\/figcaption><\/figure>
A very reliable strain, which sings against the darkness of freshly mulched ground. Elizabeth selected flowers with strongly overlapped sepals to give a delicate cupped form and her selections should always have as good a colour on the reverse as this is what you see most of the time. 70cm. RHS H7.<\/p>
Helleborus torquatus <\/em><\/strong><\/p>
$\"Helleborus$
\u00a9 Nicky Flint<\/figcaption><\/figure>
A small but beautiful species with green-purple flowers, sometimes heavily veined. The often highly segmented foliage is truly deciduous. 40cm. RHS H7.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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