Modern heroes of horticulture - Harriet Rycroft
Harriet Rycroft is best known for being the Queen of Pots. Her position as head gardener at the Warwickshire based Whichford pottery gave her the chance to hone her skills on a daily basis. A traditional pottery offers certain benefits - huge metre-high handbuilt statement planters enabled Harriet to throw caution to the wind, treating the planting as if filling a traditional border with sumptuous planting, constantly updating and editing to give stunning displays throughout the year.
The journey for Harriet into horticulture started in the late nineties when she embarked on a course at Pershore College gaining a General Certificate in Horticulture before going on to pass the advanced level qualification. At Whichford she planned and planted pots for Chelsea Flower show and gave demonstrations and lectures to clubs and societies.
After 14 years at the pottery Harriet moved 17 miles down the road to The Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens near Burford. With 250 exotic species of animal it is a surprise to find world class gardens surrounding the animal enclosures. Working with exotic plant specialist Tim Miles, the gardens attracted well known guests over the years. Amusingly, Roy Lancaster exchanged a rare bamboo for some rhino poo manure. Dan Pearson and Chris Beardshaw have given talks at the gardens and it was used as a venue for BBC Radio Gardeners' Question Time.
Harriet was asked by Tim to help him write a book, something he’d been meaning to write for years. ‘The Cotswold Wildlife Park – A Celebration of the Gardens’ was the result. With a forward by plantsman Roy Lancaster and over 500 photographs it demonstrates the diversity of the planting and landscapes within the park. Harriet says “It gives you a taste of the huge range of plants and planting styles at the Park – from bedding out vast banana plants or enormous cacti to our own style of prairie planting around the Rhino paddock”.
After six years at the park Harriet went on to work independently and has been working on a small private estate and concentrating on her own garden and the large collection of planted pots she has amassed over the years. Inspired by the experience of the wildlife park book, she embarked on writing another that would demonstrate her wealth of knowledge gained at Whichford, the wildlife park, and her own outside space. The Bloom Gardener’s Guide, ‘POTS, fill your containers with plants, tend to their needs, watch them flourish’ was born. Published by Frances Lincoln the book attracted rave reviews with James Alexander-Sinclair announcing in his usual inimitable way: “Harriet Rycroft is a very talented conductor of containers, a potentate of pots and a tycoon of tubs. Her book is a pleasure and her advice invaluable." Michael Perry otherwise known as Mr Plant Geek went on to say: “The artistry of this container work makes it an incredibly mindful and enjoyable process. The containers she makes are simply works of art!”
