 Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932)
introduced the concept of a 'Silver (Grey) Garden' when she designed
and planted the Gardens of Special Colouring at Munstead
Wood, her home, in Surrey, England. The key concept to that distinguishes
Miss Jekyll's 'Grey Garden' from a white garden was the thought
that the beauty of white needed to be highlighted through the
additions of a blue and yellow. Gertrude Jekyll strongly protested
the concept of white flowers against silver foliage. The Special
Colour Garden design displayed the powerful impact that the various
intensities the colors posses within the individual gardening
sections. Each themed bed was designed to complement and complete
the whole design. |
Gertrude was born in England in 1843 and grew up in Surrey.
In 1861 she enrolled at the School of Art in South Kensington
to study botany and ornamentation, art history, and colour theory,
and became particularly interested in J.M.W. Turner's use of
colour. In the next few years she traveled Europe and the Mediterranean
in the company of fellow artists and like-minded friends, always
observing and sketching the local flora.
Click here for more information and sites on Gerturde
Jekyll |
The 'Grey Garden' displayed a soft, feathery, luminous, and refreshing
visual effect. Gertrude Jekyll planted the hedge for the 'Grey
Garden' with Tamarisk, a shrub with soft and feathery foliage
that eventually grew to gracefully arch over the paths. The plants
which were included in the original design of the garden are
as follows: Achillea 'The Pearl', dwarf Ageratum, tall Ageratum,
Dicentra eximia, Echinops, Elymus, Geranmium platy petallum,
Godetia, Gypsophillia, Heliotrope, Alcea rosea, Lavandula, Lilium
longiflorum, Nepeta, Santolina, Stachys, white dianthus, and
Yucca glorisoa.
Gertrude Jekyll was considered one of the premier landscape designers
of her time and is still heralded as an authority today. Pictured
below is the orginal design of Gertrude Jekyll's Grey Garden.
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What made Gertrude Jekyll's garden designs an absolute phenomenon
for the time and even today, was she had deplorable eyesight
that was in constant deterioration, she never truly saw the designs
that she was creating. Despite her failing eyesight, she turned
to masterfully crafting eloquent and graceful woody and herbaceous
borders. Her scientific research with color theory and herbaceous
plants enabled her to flawlessly design her flower borders. Her
research projects became the infamous gardens that people still
visit today and attempt to imitate. Her work can still be seen
at Munstead House, Munstead Wood, and Sissinghurst just to name
a couple. She designed hundreds of gardens that are still in
existence today. |
