This has to be Beth Chatto who is celebrated at a wonderful exhibiton opening today at the newly designed Musuem of Garden History in London. http://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk

This remarkable lady is 85 and yet she is still as inspirational as ever. She is a plants-woman, designer, author, 10-time gold-medal winner at Chelsea, holder of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Victoria Medal of Honour and, founder of the celebrated Beth Chatto Gardens at Elmstead Market, near Colchester, which are  a hoticultural heaven.http://www.bethchatto.co.uk/

Beth Chatto in her garden

For me, Beth Chatto’s biggest contribution to UK gardening is how she has championed drought gardening and introduced the concept of adapting our UK gardens to changing weather conditions. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/oct/14/gardens1

Beth Chatto is a visionary for the future of gardening in the UK. I hope she will continue to inspire a new generation of gardeners with ideas like these:

“Drought is not a recent hazard, but a way of life in Essex. We always expected midsummer droughts here and white lawns in July and August. But now the winters are milder, the summers hotter, we have to find the right plants for the right places. We just can’t expect to carry on growing all those lovely bedding plants and dahlias. Our obsession with colour may have to fade. You cannot change the [soil] conditions that much. You can use chemicals and put things in the soil, to hold moisture … but if it doesn’t rain?

“I personally think the way ahead is to go with the [climate] changes. I don’t go down the chemical route. It’s against my principles.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/may/12/homesandgardens.lifeandhealth