My inspiration for this border is a painting by John Piper titled ’Elements of Foliate Heads’. This is his interpretation of the mythical Green Man, a guardian of rebirth in the countryside.

The atmosphere of the border is of profusion, plants billowing with green and glaucus foliage with points of colour inspired by the painting

A hedge of Rhamnus cathartica and Frangula alnus, host plants for the Brimstone caterpillar, creates a boundary between a formal and less formal area in the imaginary garden. Like the Green Man, the Brimstone butterfly blends into the foliage with its leaf-like wings.

Planting includes teasels Dipsacus fullonum and nettles Urtica dioica on the informal side and cultivated thistle-like forms such as Eryngium and Centaurea on the more formal side. Posts, symbolising tree trunks, are entwined with Hedera helix and Lonicera, both valuable sources of nectar.