How Does Your Garden Grow - Glyndebourne
A garden built by opera, for the opera- oh, the drama and romance of it. Well, the garden at Glyndebourne is just that; a garden planted with love over 90 years by the family who founded the opera house there, a garden for the opera-goers through the season, and a garden for the company that works there, from singers, orchestra, directors, producers, props, tailors, costumers- the company is a family of artists who all live on site or close by during the season. When the invitation came to see what they were doing with the gardens, specifically a new dye garden made in 2019 to be used by the costume department, all the romance of putting on a production combined with a beautiful and, moreover, practical working garden hooked me in.
the walk from the coach park, a statue from a previous production out back of a greenhouse, the dye natural dye made from the garden, samples from the costume department
Here in the studio at ALMA | PROUST HQ, we have dabbled over the years in botanical dyeing for wedding ribbons and we love growing plants specifically for that purpose. We love to see our spent petals end up in the dye bath and continue to bring beauty long after the flowers have faded, so we were thrilled to hear all about the collaboration at Glyndebourne between the costume department and the garden. Jenny Mercer and Andrea Benson work together to dedicate their time and effort to grow and use the plants to end up in the costumes. They’re growing woad, Japanese indigo, madder, coreopsis, dyer’s camomile, marigolds, weld, dahlias, and the garden is about to be expanded, I'm looking forward to returning and seeing it when it is in full working bloom.
We got chatting to Kevin at the fountain. Freddie, a sculpture made by Rose Beale from the props department of the family pug, sat between us. We asked what Kevin's favourite part of working in the garden at Glyndebourne is. He answered without hesitation that it was meeting the people who came through and working collaboratively with the artists who use it.
It's still used by the Christie family as a family garden- they live in the house that flanks the opera house. The Christie family set up Glyndebourne as a venue 90 years ago, and though there is still the family touch around, with busts and sculptures of family pets of bygone times and talk of the kid's football nets having been cleared away just last week, it's predominately a place of work- with 180 permanent staff making the operas happen and the venue visitor ready, it's a massive operation. Once all the people putting on a show are here- the garden becomes a creative haven for them, a home to be in and a workaround for everyone involved. There are few places left where so many disciplines of the arts collide- art schools and vast city art centers spring to mind, but none that sit so beautifully in bucolic landscapes so that a garden, providing an anchoring to the earth and rich muse of nature to mine is at its center. A Bloomsbury's set Charleston- albeit on a grander scale.
Fred the Pug & water Hawthorn in the Mary Christie Rose Garden
We wandered towards the rose garden and caught the orchestra having their break by the new Conrad Shawcross sculptures - a work called 'Expansion Fields'. The pieces outside are called Paradigms, after the idea in science of a paradigm shift when an old idea makes way for a new idea. The idea is that an idea will grow and grow and grow and eventually collapse to make way for a new idea. They're made from beautiful Corton Steel and will gently change while they're here until they eventually go and make way for something else. The planting made sweeping curves around the sculptures that looked out beyond towards the pasture land grazed with sheep and the Downs beyond. In late spring, the palette was in muted greys and greens, with pops of whites and blush from Tulipa clusiana Cynthia, Ipheion, Sedum, and Alliums, Bearded Iris on the cusp of bursting open, geraniums, foxgloves, and persicaria. Then the bell rang, once and twice, and the violinists, flautists, and bassoonists drifted back towards the rehearsal room.
The planting in the garden where the Conrad Shawcross Sculptures are on show
For half the year, while the season is on, the garden is also a space for audiences, pouring out into its corners before, between and after the show's halves. Most of the shows have at least one interval of an hour and a half, so a large part of the Glyndebourne experience is being in the garden. There's a long-standing tradition of eating outside during the interval- a picnic anywhere you like on a scale from rustic to elaborate- historically some people would have trolleys of champagne and waiting staff- imagine the glamour, now you can just bring a sandwich from home, or order the unbelievably delicious Glyndebourne offerings, which still feels like a treat.
Cottage style planting of forget-me-nots & Love-In-The-Mist, and plant supports In the Mildmay Garden
Noticeably, the garden has a driving principle of environmental sustainability. After studying zoology, Gus Christie became a wildlife cameraman before taking over the Glyndebourne mantel from his parents. It has led him to continue planting trees, ensuring diverse habitats across the site, from marshland, grassland, lakes and garden borders, to fighting for wind turbines to power the house, auditorium and all working outbuildings. The wig and costume makers work from an entirely carbon-neutral building. To preserve water sources, they have set up a system to save rainwater in a reservoir to use if and when they need but rarely use it, to use it as responsibly as possible; in fact, they don't generally water the garden at all, only after they've watered a plant in and they plant the annuals into the perennial borders densely through the summer, effectively acting as their own mulch, covering the soil and protecting it from sun. No insecticide is used in the gardens- they use only organic methods, relying on creating habitat and welcoming in toads and slowworms to be the natural predators and keep everything in balance. An orchard by the greenhouse, where they raise all of the seedlings for the season, is home to a beautiful Rocket Bee Hive by Matt Summerville. A Rocket hive is a log hives can also be fitted with 6ft wooden legs made from Chestnut and a conical roof (hackle) made from Norfolk reed. It’s a beautiful thing, and a swarm moved in the week it was placed.
The Rocket Hive in the Orchard
The team affectionately call the garden the 7th production of the year (there are 6 operas per season)- it takes a team to keep it exciting and beautiful throughout the season. Walking through, each part felt distinctly different, from the planting styles to the colour palettes to the rhythm and tempo of the space itself. It is all a collaborative effort between Gus, John Hoyland, and Kevin, and the planting is a mixture of rarer and more common garden varieties. A white foxglove tree (Paulownia tomentosa) hovering over gentle planting of corydalis, hellebores, Solomons seal, Ferula communis, and fern trees in a sunken garden that lent an ambience of an alluring tropical swamp was a real highlight.
Soloman’s seal, forget-me-nots, Ferula communis, and corydalis In the sunken Bourne garden.
