Horticulturalist Jimi Blake, named "the new plant guru" by The Telegraph, has spent the last 25 years growing plants in dynamic and innovative ways at the fabulous Hunting Brook Gardens in Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
In his new book written with Noel Kingsbury, A Beautiful Obsession: Jimi Blake’s World of Plants at Hunting Brook Gardens, Jimi walks us through these exuberant gardens which were featured on BBC Gardener’s World in July 2017.
Foliage plants play a key role at Hunting Brook, chosen for their finely cut leaves, extraordinary shapes and rich textures. In a bold move, cacti and succulents are summer planted to provide interesting pairings with hardy perennials while jewelbox geums, dahlias and salvias are carefully chosen for their long flowering and perfect hues.
To celebrate the launch of this new book, Jimi joins us for an evening at the Garden Museum. He will share the stories behind his highly idiosyncratic planting style, explain his distinctive take on combining plants and change the way you think about plants and gardens.
A Beautiful Obsession is published on 19 September 2019 by Filbert Press, and will be available to purchase in the Garden Museum Shop. After his talk, Jimi will answer questions and sign books.
Speaker bio
-
Jimi Blake
Jimi Blake
Mad about plants from an early age, Jimi trained at the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin and then became Head Gardener at Airfield House where he resuscitated a lost Victorian gem of a garden and found his inimitable planting style. In 2001 Jimi had the opportunity to move back to his family estate, and create the extraordinarily innovative and dynamic garden that is the subject of this book. At Hunting Brook, Jimi lives his dream of growing and expanding his plant collection and sharing his passion for plants by running courses and workshops.
Jimi divides his time as a gardening consultant, planting designer, international lecturer and being at home at Hunting Brook thinking up ever more layers of surprise and excitement for the stream of visitors who travel to see the garden from all corners of the globe.