A Review of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

I was extraordinarily fortunate to be doing my MA in London during the year which saw the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the XXX Olympiad. What a year!

In the autumn of 2011 a landscape architect who worked on the design of the Olympic Park gave a presentation to our class; a design teaser of what was then being built. While I was writing my dissertation my tutor, Tom Turner, very generously gave me a ticket to the park so I was able to see it in all its Olympic glory (I can also boast that I ate at the World's Largest McDonald's). In this video Tom and fellow University of Greenwich professor Robert Holden, Landscape Architects both, discuss the post-Olympic landscape of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. I would love to see it again, in light of this review.

Five Minutes of Garden Fame

I'm quite chuffed, as my English friends would say, to be featured in garden writer Helen Yoest's blog! She's been doing a wonderful series of profiles highlighting young garden talent, an idea she got from a similar series featured in Gardens Illustrated. I had the honor of working along side several of the gardeners featured in the GI profiles and, because youth is a state of mind, am thrilled to be in company with so many talented gardeners in Helen's series. I've copied her post here for your reading enjoyment and took the liberty of adding some links for people and places I mention because I love them so and want to share them with you! To see the original post and more fantastic content from Helen, give a click on her blog link below. Do drop in and have a look around. While you're there, tell her Debs sent you!

Garden Talent: Deb Wiles

Posted by HelenYoest on March 13, 2014

Meet Deb Wiles. Deb, thanks for sharing with Gardening with Confidence! And thank you for all you do!

 

Please visit the Gardeners going forward category (on this blog) for other interviews of bright young minds.

 

Name: Deb Wiles
Age: 45 on the outside, 25 on the inside

Occupation: Director of Horticulture, Garden Historian

Where you went to college:
California State University Northridge (BA Deaf Studies), UCLA (Horticulture and some Landscape Architecture), University of Greenwich, London (MA Garden History), and I was a Professional Gardener student at Longwood Gardens.

What is your earliest garden memory?
My earliest garden memory is of pinching the seed heads on Oxalis in my grandparent’s garden. I was probably 5 and didn’t realize they were weeds! I just liked how it tickled when the pods exploded between my fingers! We also had a Passiflora vine in our backyard that was annually covered with Gulf Fritillary caterpillars which then made their chrysalides all over the fences and walls of the house. Kind of eery but when the butterflies emerged it was magical! That was the first time I made the connection between a plant and an insect.

What made you decide to enter the field of horticulture?
I was a cubicle rat in a windowless office for years. On the weekends I spent all my time at a local nursery called Hortus, taking classes and drooling over the plants. One day I overheard the owner telling another customer about the landscape architecture program at UCLA and my company had a tuition reimbursement program! The rest is history!

Please tell me about your specific horticultural position?
I’m Director of Horticulture for an historic estate turned public arboretum. Right now that means I shovel a lot of snow! There are only two of us on the hort staff to manage 13.5 acres of formal gardens, wildflower meadow, and woodlands so my job is very hands-on. I also have the dubious distinction of successfully organizing the first ever deer hunt on the grounds (and I’ve only been there 6 months!). I write the monthly garden tips article on the company website, teach classes and workshops, write grant proposals, and launched the Arb into social media. Currently I’m helping to develop our first garden docent training program.

How long have you been in the horticulture business?
Unofficially, about 15 years. Officially, not quite 10.

What is your personal garden style?
I studied the gardens of the late 17^th and early 18^th century for my MA and really love the calmness that order and geometry bring but my own personal style is very haphazard. When I had a garden of my own, I would wander the nursery and grab whatever was new or unique or a plant I’d seen on my travels just to see if it would work in my garden, so it was quite varied! Luckily my landlord didn’t mind the experiment!

Tell me about your first plant love?
I try to be an equal opportunity plant geek but I would have to say Sweet Pea since that’s my birth flower. The blossoms are so elegant yet playful, and the scent! I’d fill my house with them if I could!

Who inspired you in your career and how?
Oooh, lots of people: Gary Jones, who owned Hortus; Scott Daigre and Catherine Downes, who worked there as well as fellow Hortus devotee Susan Drews; my colleagues in the windowless cubicle who cried, “Take me with you!” when I left; Fergus Garrett, head gardener at Great Dixter, who I met for the first time in 2006 and whom I am honored to call friend and mentor, and pretty much everyone I met while I was at Longwood! And, of course, my parents.

What is your favorite garden setting?
I love a garden with a broad view across a body of water, with a seat to enjoy it on, lots of heavenly scents carried on soft breezes, sunshine, shade, something to explore, and something to discover. A cafe with tea and scones doesn’t hurt!

What is your favorite planting style?
Right now I’m into what William Robinson called the Wild Garden.

What advice can you give others considering entering the field of horticulture?
DO IT!!! I took a drastic cut in pay when I left my high-powered corporate job to work in the garden and have never regretted a moment of it! Yes, it was a scary move, especially since it’s technically my third career, but I’ve made the best friends, have seen the most amazing places, met the most remarkable people, and have learned more than I ever imagined. If it’s where your heart is, go there. You won’t be happy until you do!

If you could go anywhere to see gardens, where would that be?
I’m not finished with the UK yet!

If you could go with any one person, who would it be?
Celia Fiennes (1662-1741). This woman traveled to every county in England between 1685 and 1710, an accomplishment very few men could claim at the time. She kept a travel diary describing the gardens and interiors of the great houses she visited as well as the local trades and commerce. Not much is known about her apart from her diary and her family connections so I’ve started researching her biography and hope to retrace her journeys one day.

What was your most valuable training?
Longwood introduced me to the world of public horticulture on a bold scale and Great Dixter introduced me to a world of wonder and historical reverence! Both were invaluable in preparing me for my present position.

How can people contact you: email, fb, LinkedIn, Twitter, website, etc.?
debwiles@gmail.com
Facebook: Deb Wiles
Twitter: @dawiles
Blog: gotsoil.blogspot.com

Sir Christopher Wren - Rebuilder of London

Today marks the 290th anniversary of Sir Christopher Wren's death. Hailed as one of England's most distinguished architects and largely responsible for rebuilding my beloved London after the Great Fire of 1666, I thought it would be only proper to pay a small tribute to his genius here.

Sir Christopher Wren with St. Paul's in the background.  (attrib)

Born 20 October 1632 in Wiltshire, Wren was well educated, attending Westminster School when his father moved the family to Windsor, then at Oxford. He excelled in maths and sciences, and was appointed Professor of Astronomy first at Gresham College in London then at Oxford in 1661. He was very highly regarded by Isaac Newton, among others. In 1662 he was one of the founding members of the Royal Society.

Also keen on physics and engineering, Wren became interested in architecture and in 1664 was invited to design the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford. Next came a commission to design a chapel for Pembroke College, Cambridge and from then on architecture was his main profession. He never forgot his scientific roots, though. His Monument to the Great Fire of London - a free-standing fluted Doric column that rises 202 ft (62 m) - was designed to be used as a zenith telescope.

After the Great Fire decimated most of Medieval London, Wren created an ambitious rebuilding plan for the entire city. He designed and rebuilt 51 city churches including the iconic St. Paul's Cathedral that once loomed over the city. Miraculously surviving the Blitz during WW2 and though now obscured by high rises and waterfront buildings on the Thames, St. Paul's still stands guard over the city and when you're standing near it, it hits you just how massive and extraordinary a structure it is.

South face of St. Paul's Cathedral as seen from the top deck of the No. 15 bus riding west.

Wren was created Surveyor of the Royal Works in 1669 which gave him control over all government building in London, and he was knighted in 1673. In 1682 Wren was commissioned to design a hospital in Chelsea for retired soldiers. It still serves as a retirement home for retired soldiers and the internationally acclaimed Chelsea Flower Show is held on the hospital grounds. His other works include The Royal Observatory and the Royal Naval Hospital, both at Greenwich, as well as renovations and expansions to the palaces of Hampton Court and Kensington. He died, after a distinguished and no doubt exhausting career, on 25 February 1723. His gravestone in St Paul's Cathedral features the Latin inscription which translates: 'If you seek his memorial, look about you.'

So, to commemorate his great and lasting contribution to architecture and the most splendid city in the world, I've put together this collection of images of Wren's surviving buildings that I've seen. When I took some of these photos, I didn't realize they were Wren's work until I went inside or looked it up later (I'm not an architectural historian, is my excuse, but I'm learning!). In verifying place names I've come to the conclusion that one simply cannot wander London without bumping into Wren.

St. Martins Ludgate on Ludgate Hill near St. Paul's. Rebuilt 1677-84.

St Dunstan-in-the-East, located midway between The Tower of London and London Bridge. Rebuilt 1688-71. Severely damaged in the Blitz, only Wren's tower and a few walls survive. The ruins have been made into a lovely public garden.

The Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, 1664-68.

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 1675-76.

St. Bride's Church on Fleet Street, 1672. The tiered spire, added in 1701-3, is the inspiration for centuries of wedding cakes!

The remains of St. Mary Aldermanbury. Gutted by a bomb during the blitz, the shell was dismantled and all the stones moved to Westminster College in Fulton, MO where the church was reconstructed and dedicated as a memorial to Winston Churchill.

Christ Church, Greyfriars, near St. Paul's. Rebuilt after the Great Fire, destroyed by enemy bombing December, 1940 . The former nave area is now a public garden and memorial.

Kensington Palace, formerly Nottingham House, was extensively enlarged by Wren when William and Mary acquired it in 1689.

The west face of St. Paul's. On the south face there is a phoenix carved in the stone with the Latin word 'Resurgum': I Shall Rise Again. And rise again it did.

Inside the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

St. Magnus the Martyr, at London Bridge, as seen from the top of The Monument, 1671-87.

Façade of Hampton Court Palace designed by Wren for William and Mary.



A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Old Royal Naval College, originally constructed as Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich, and home to my Alma mater, 1696 - 1712. I felt smarter just standing there.

The Monument to the Great Fire of London, 1671-77

Tower of St. Alban, Wood Street, 1685. The church was partially destroyed during the Blitz. Only the tower now remains and is a private dwelling in a traffic island.



Where Time Begins

Mercy me! Where does the time go? I've been negligent in my blogging duties and haven't even posted half the things I thought of while I was at Great Dixter. Perhaps a retrospective will make its way to these hallowed screens sometime. Soon? Maybe.

And so we fast forward to the present. I am back in England studying for my MA in Garden History and what better place to be for the subject? Of all the countries in the world, England has to be the most garden-centric. With upwards of 800 gardens in England alone, I don't expect to be bored while I'm here! While the first week was filled with induction and I really should have been diving into my studies to get a head start,  instead, I decided to do a little exploring of my new surroundings.

Week 1: Greenwich


Old Royal Naval College, Greewich
Now the site of the University of Greenwich



Architecture!

The Chapel

The Painted Hall
Used as a dining room for special occasions



Longest perennial border in the world, or so I'm told. During WW2 the Flower Garden in another part of the park was planted with anti-aircraft guns. After the war the park was restored.



Where time begins
In the courtyard above, people are queued up waiting their turn to straddle the Prime Meridian. In doing so, half of you is in the Western Hemisphere while the other half is in the Eastern Hemisphere. Good party trick!



Greenwich Park, site of a Roman settlement and the oldest enclosed Royal Park



Local culture



Local flavor!

Living and studying in London? Historically speaking, pretty darn awesome! In the coming weeks I will make it a goal to post interesting snippets about the places I visit and gardens and garden topics I study. Stay tuned for a bit on Egyptian gardens and the ancestral home of Vita Sackville-West's family, Knole.