Rodmarton Manor Lecture Days
Our Garden Lecture Days will be held in the historic Arts and Crafts Manor House at Rodmarton. Each day begins at 10.30am with coffee and tea before the first talk at 11.00am. A delicious two course lunch with wine and elderflower will then be served with time to explore the garden before the second lecture starts at 2.00pm. The days will end at around 3.30 to 4.00pm with tea and homemade cake.
Polly Nicholson
The Tulip Garden – Growing Tulips More Sustainably
Polly will guide you through her National Collection of Historic Tulips and demonstrate how she curates and grows them organically and sustainably alongside a wide selection of species and annual varieties, at her home in Wiltshire. Polly’s talk will inspire all you tulip enthusiasts!
Polly is a tulip specialist, environmentalist and the founder of Bayntun Flowers, a small organic flower farm and walled garden in Wiltshire. Passionate about tulips, she has been growing species, historic and annual garden varieties for over fifteen years and holds the National Collection of Tulipa (historic) with Plant Heritage. Polly grew up in the countryside near Bath and read English literature with medieval studies at the University of Exeter before obtaining a diploma in horticulture from the English Gardening School in 2003. Polly is an active member of Flowers from the Farm which has become the voice of nearly1000 local, seasonal flower farmers nationwide, a trustee of Benton End House & Garden in Suffolk and she has acted as horticultural adviser for several Phaidon publications.
Jamie Butterworth
Growing for Gold!
Jamie will take us through his fascinating insight on the design, planning and delivery of gold medal winning gardens at the prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show. This talk will be a truly inspirational conversation exploring his highly successful career and inspirations.
Form Plants was established in 2021 and was born out of a frustration from Managing Director Jamie Butterworth. “A few years ago,” he explains, “I was planting and maintaining people’s gardens, but the service I was encountering at some plant suppliers was headbangingly bad. So I started to grow plants for myself, then for my customers and then I ended up establishing Form Plants. I’ve always wanted a nursery that is clean, crisp and has great customer service. I hope that is what we offer all our customers.” With more than 10 years experience in the industry, Jamie has exhibited his passion for quality and innovation in horticulture. From working at RHS Garden Wisley, to winning gold at RHS Chelsea Flower Show (2022), RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival (2021) and at the RHS’s then flower show at Chatsworth (2019), he has a huge experience in bringing form to all that he does. Jamie made his debut as a presenter on Gardeners’ World in 2023 when he showed us the gardens at Scampston Hall in North Yorkshire.