| Beatrix Potter's garden gets a revival for the 150th anniversary of her birth |
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"Once upon a time there were four little rabbits and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter." So begins one of Beatrix Potter's most beloved children's books The Tale of Peter Rabbit which follows the story of a naughty little bunny named Peter who likes to eat vegetables and flowers from the garden of Mr. McGregor.
2016 marks the 150th Anniversary of Beatrix Potter's birth and the British National Trust is celebrating with a recreation of her garden on her homestead known as Hill Top Farm in the Lake District of Northern England.
Potter's own garden differs from the grand gardens she knew as a child (she was born to wealthy upper class parents in Victorian London) and is more of a cottage style, the "sentimental, neighborly sort of place where flowers sprout up among the vegetables and between the paving stones..." (Needleman)
At Hill Top Farm the garden has been recreated using the illustrations and text of Potter's books as a guide to identify the the different fruit, vegetables and flowers Potter would have been familiar with in her lifetime as well as the over all design style. The gardens have been designed and recreated by Chelsea RHS Gold medal winner Richard Lucas and evoke the idyllic pastoral paradise of Potter's books. |
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 | | The recreated garden gate under which Peter rabbit would have escaped. |
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 | | Potted geraniums are commonplace in Mr. McGregor's garden. |
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 | | Herbs, flowers and vegetables mingle together in the cottage style. |
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Not only was Beatrix Potter a writer, illustrator and gardener, but she also was a conservationist and modest in her means. Rather than keep the proceeds from her more than 30 published books, she donated to the National Trust to create what is now the Lake District National Park- nearly 885 square miles encompassing the land around the Hill Top Farm. |
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Photos above from The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction website. For more information visit www.hop-skip-jump.com
Needleman, Deborah, Sunday Book Review, The New York Times, Dec. 6, 2013 |
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