“Will you marry me?” asked my husband-to-be. “Yes, but only if I can renovate the gardens”. This is how my love of the gardens at Llandough Castle began (and my life with my husband, of course!). We are still working on them some 12 years later, and we will no doubt continue to do so until we are too old or leave the house for the next chapter in its history to begin.
My earliest memories of loving gardening go back to being in my grandfather’s allotment, picking and eating fresh peas until my stomach hurt. I asked my father to grow me sweet peas, but he grew me flowers, not vegetables, and I was not impressed. The scent of tomatoes in my father’s greenhouse is one of my favourite smells, along with cigars! Gardening has always been my solace when times are tough; after my parents both died when I was 18, I had my first house and garden, and I spent all of my spare time gardening, digging, choosing plants and creating my own space, which helped me to get through the grieving process. It still helps me now, and being outside in a garden is so therapeutic; it is one of the reasons we open the gardens for charity.
When we were allowed to open during the pandemic, it was the first time that families had been allowed to see each other outside; friends and families stayed for the afternoon, chatting and laughing; it really was a wonderful sight.
I feel very lucky and blessed to be in this position, and it means so much to me that we can raise money for worthwhile charities, such as Macmillan, whose incredible nurses helped us as a family when my father died of cancer.
Designing has always been my passion. I started in fashion, and had my own boutique in Cardiff; then when I had tiny children, I job-shared in an interior design shop. After a few years and a divorce, I decided to make a career out of my hobby, and so I went back to university at the age of 38 with two small children and as a single mum. I loved it, leading me to work full-time at a landscape architecture company and eventually run my own design practice.
And then I met my husband (well, he actually bought me in a fundraising auction as the prize was for me to cook at a dinner party, but that is another story); we arranged to meet for a cup of tea and never looked back. He is patient and allows me free reign when designing and planting the gardens. We now have an Italian-inspired potager garden, formal croquet lawns with borders and clipped castellated yew hedging, a wildlife pond, and a woodland garden. We are re-wilding part of our woodland lawn. We have planted over 45,000 snowdrops and 150,000 Spring bulbs. It has been backbreaking at times, and we couldn’t do it without the help of David, our wonderful gardener and May, his dog, who is definitely in charge of us all.
Alongside my love of gardens, I have always had a passion for flowers and flower arranging, but with a full-time job and bringing up two boys as a single mum, I never had time to explore it properly. The pandemic positively affected me as I had the time to do what I had always loved. I started creating wedding flowers for couples desperate to get married no matter how small a wedding they had. It was a wonderful experience and totally addictive. I now run the floral business ‘Wild and Fabulous Flowers”. We operate as a sustainable florist, never using green floral foam and sourcing local flowers where possible. We are very diverse, and I love creating large floral installations as much as small bunches of flowers. We worked with Dyffryn Gardens to design and install their Christmas displays and pop-up events, such as the Blossom Tree.
It is always an honour to be chosen as someone’s wedding florist, and we make every effort for the flowers to be perfect on the day. We do a limited number of weddings a year to ensure we have the time to concentrate fully on our floral displays on a special day. Our floral style is very much based on my design experience; colours, shapes, textures and scents are so important to us.
We are now bringing the flowers and the gardens together by holding floral workshops at Llandough Castle. These are held monthly and use seasonal flowers. In November, we host Christmas wreath workshops, which are hugely popular and fun.
Hen parties can also be held in the garden or original Victorian Orangery. You can make floral headbands with your friends whilst sipping fizz and nibbling on a canape. It is an excellent alternative to a traditional night out.
Our future plans are to grow the floral business and sell a curated collection of our favourite things, including our range of candles in conjunction with Thornbush Hill. They are made up of all of my favourite garden scents, and we have found the most beautiful containers that can be re-purposed as vases or plant pots once the candle has been burnt. We will also be selling gorgeous linens and vases. It will be fascinating to see it grow, just like the gardens at the Castle.
If you would like to be on our mailing list for events at Llandough Castle, then please email wildandfabulousflowers@gmail.com
The gardens will be opening for the National Garden Scheme next Spring. We will be announcing the date in October. We hope to open as a pop-up as part of the Snowdrop Festival in February.
