Hot plot or not? Number 9

Anne Wareham is the second brave victim with the guts to expose her garden to the sharp eyes of Horticultural readers. The picture (copyright Anne) is the vegetable plot at her Welsh garden, Veddw. As someone who has argued that gardens should face criticism rather than platitudes of "loveliness", ) is prepared to put her money where her mouth is. Good for you Anne! And what a mouth - Anne was recently awarded the prestigious title of Mouth of the Year in Martyn Cox's OMG awards.

Just add your thoughts below: please start your comment with a "hot" or a "not" so I can tally the votes. If you think you can outdo Anne, do send me a picture of your garden if you want to be subject to the scrutiny of the HPON judges (by which I mean, you readers). Regulars may wish to know that HPON 8 garnered nine "nots" and seven "hots" plus a few lukewarms, which I'm not counting, because it's all about making a judgment call, people! I was a little bit miffed about this because the front garden in question is one of my favourites in the vicinity of my house. I think it's partly down to the time of year, because trust me it looks fantastic in June. What lets it down for me is the fusty nets in the windows, not the plants.

Anyway, let's see what you make of Anne's garden. As an incentive to add your comment I'll be awarding a randomly selected person from each HPON comments list to receive a gardening titbit of some sort (probably a book), so record your vote now!

Comments

[MarkD]

Hot. Anywhere with lots of cardoons gets an auto-hot from me....but veg plot might be taking it a touch far, or is it more of a historic reference to it's former use?...can't see anything edible other than cardoons.

I think the colours are rather lovely combinations and the UFO hedges make me want to pat them

[Lia Leendertz]

It's lovely! (Sorry, couldnt resist...)

[Laetitia Maklouf]

Definitely HOT HOT HOT!...only Anne could make piles of heuchera look that good (it is heuchera isn't it?)...Anyway, I can testify to the hotness of various parts of Anne's garden because I've actually been there - so I'm not just judging it by this photo...(Anne take note!)... Having said that, Anne would probably wish me to add that there are lots of parts to her garden and I don't think all of it's gorgeous like this bit.

[Jane in Edmonton]

Hot. Love the colours, the paths, the enclosed feeling. I do think it's a bit of a stretch to call it a vegetable garden, though.

[elizabethm]

HOT, beautiful, agree it may not be a vegetable garden but what the hell!

[Ryan]

Hot!

I saw a pic of this garden on Anne's website recently and had to pop her a message about it. It's an ornamental garden rather than a vegetable garden but it is still HOT!

Could this be a white wash? All hot so far.

Ryan

[Anne Wareham]

It was (historic) the veg plot: name has lasted.

[Amy]

Hot. I bet it looks amazing with a touch of frost or snow too

[Emma]

NOT. Far too formal for my tastes, I'm afraid. I love a bit of chaos and serendipity in my veg plots!

[JamesA-S]

I couldn't possibly state an opinion based solely on a photograph....

but, if you held me down and threatened to pull out my nails then I would put it on the Hot list

[Martyn Cox]

Hot.Perhaps Anne's vegetable patch reveals the secret of her acid-tongued barbs - in much the same way that Popeye's strength comes from eating spinach, could it possibly be fuelled by a diet of cardoon?

[New Shoot]

Hot ;-D

[Susan]

Hot. Must be lovely to have such a big garden. Although, I'm looking for the veg...

[Helen]

Hot - absolutely

[Si]

Hot - but I really wanted to say otherwise. We look forward to visiting sometime next year.

[Ms B]

HOT - I love the rhythm of the plants, the contrast of the froth of purple heucheras against the bright green formality of the box & the silver cardoon. Although it does not look much like a typical veg plot, I can only assume that the patches of bare earth are where the veggies have been harvested!

[Arabella Sock]

Hot. Love the colour palette, love the heucheras and cardoons. Love the fact that the box(?) flying saucers aren't overly pristine. Curious to know what will spring out of the bare earth patches?

[Gwenhwyfar]

Hot. The greens and purples work really well. I'm not always into formal gardens, but this is playful (UFO hedges!) and stylish. Veddw has been on my 'list' for ages to visit, and this shows it looks definitely worth it. Pity it isn't open in winter as it looks like it would still be quite interesting to view; agree with Amy about the snow.

[Khrystyna McPeake]

Hot! Definitely hot. I like the rhythm and the contrast. Especially the globes of green box (is it?)
Playful, engaging feel to it

[VP]

I'm looking forward to visiting Veddw next year and I've had to think long and hard about this scene.

There is much I love about it - the textures, the shapes of the hedges and trees, the firework like cardoons, BUT I'm having real difficulty with the colour combination, though I suspect it might look completely different at another time. Would you believe it's the Heuchera and Box I'm having real difficulty with and I'm a Heucheraholic!

If I cover up the Box in the picture, the scene looks fine, if I cover up the Heuchera, that looks fine too. But the Box is playful and provides structure, so reluctantly if I had to chose between the two, it's the Heuchera for the chop :o

Therefore I'm going to go against the trend and say not on the basis of this photograph, but I suspect when I'm there it'll morph into a hot.

[James Todman]

Very difficult to comment from a single photograph but from what I can see- hot. Not convinced by the splodges of heuchera's though. But that may well be down to personal taste (of which I have little)!

[Anne Wareham]

I wonder - in this series is it easier to comment freely when the picture is not identified with any named individual?

[Melanie Fleur]

Hot (and lovely!)

Though I'm not too keen on the topiary.

[Woody Wilbury]

Hot. Love it. Good mixture of colour and shape, and vegetables too!

[Diane]

Not. My first impulse was to say hot but there aren't very many species so it's a bit boring. Maybe this is the season?

[garden tips]

Hot without a doubt. What a picture.

[Ben Dark]

Not for me.

It’s a fun and playful space and I love the cardoons, but the colours just don't work. The Heuchera placed under bright box reminds me of The Joker (Batman’s nefarious enemy). If this is a garden was a super villain it would be sporting a purple velvet suit and dyed green hair, not a pretty look. Were the comics of Alan Moore an explicit inspiration when you designed this plot Anne?

[James T.]

On the basis of this photo I have to say 'not'. It's got great unity, rhythm and balance. Just looks a bit dull and not keen on the colour combination of the Heuchera and Box.

I sure the garden looks different when visited in person. I look forward to seeing it next year, if Anne allows me in (but I guess I won't be getting the cake!)

[Yolanda Elizabet]

Not. It's frightfully lovely if you like dull, otherwise not so much.

[Anne Wareham]

Ah, but is it the garden which has awful colours? or the photograph? or even the reproduction of the photograph here? = the dangers of judging gardens by photographs...

[Frugilegus]

NOT.

It's a not for me, but it might be a lukewarm 'not'; I was going to say 'hot' as I didn't dislike it in the slightest and, in fact, I probably like it better than most of the others featured. But as it just doesn't really excite me, 'not' it is. There's not enough of interest, and, despite the quirky hedges, I can't imagine wanting to spend much time there.

Wishy-washy disclaimer: Obviously, it's very hard to judge a garden from one picture, or even several :) so I should say it might make more sense seen as part of a wider garden and that the pictures I've seen of other bits of the garden are stunning. Should also admit to preferring a less formal style and more plants, especially if they're edible.

[Cabernat]

HOT

I love it!

[Digital Flower]

Hot and sweet!

[Helen]

HOT. gorgeous formality and symmetry. H

[Edith Hope]

This is a lovely combination. I first saw this planting scheme superbly carried out a number of years ago by Lance Hattatt at The Arrow Cottage Garden in Herefordshire. Did Anne Wareham see it there? Although new to blogging I have found much of interest on your site and will follow it with interest.

[mark marino]

hot and beautiful -very nice use of artichokes or cardoon!

[lapin_rouge]

Its a big 'er maybe, probabily NOT'

Has anybody on this page who raves about cardoon actually tried to cook it? stalks are all stringy - total waste of space, I've dug mine up. The tap roots however are a suprising revelation! 1M deep and as thick as a parsnip, excellent flavour.

So it's a garden with 3 plants (Box, Heucharia, Cardoon) - sorry but that doesnt merit 'HOT' at all.