The Northern branch closed out February (but opened up the spring) with a visit to Fairview, Michael Myers’s private garden in Smelthouses, where he led the group through his personal collection of early-season blooms. Although Michael is a dedicated galanthophile, his snowdrops are paired joyfully with winter aconites, hellebores and cyclamens, shaking off the last dregs of winter with a much-welcomed display of fresh vitality.
Michael’s tour gave a fascinating insight into the world of snowdrop-collecting, but also portrayed a garden designed with attention to detail and wit in equal measure. The container display features a stone planter salvaged from a previous life as pig trough. Its contents? Sow breads, of course. Further down the terraces, on the bank of the wildlife pond, Cardamine and Lathraea grow side-by-side, connected only by shared soil and a common moniker (toothwort). In leading us through the three tiers of the valley-side garden, Michael revealed the layers of a garden put together carefully, patiently, and, above all else, with great passion.
A huge thank you to Michael for opening his garden to us on this occasion, and for his family’s generous hospitality during our visit.