Chelsea Fringe, healthy gardens, Capability Brown Festival and a new banknote

This year's Chelsea Fringe may be drawing to a close but there are still plenty of events to enjoy - and not just in London.  http://www.chelseafringe.com/tag/chelsea-fringe-2015/   The fun started for Chelsea Fringe Henley almost three weeks ago with a gloriously sunny Floral Flotilla along the Thames.  If the forecast is to be believed, we'll finish with an equally sunny family and community day at Bosley Patch.                        http://www.chelseafringe.com/events/category/uk/henley-on-thames/

As always, the start of the Chelsea Fringe coincided with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. It was encouraging to see the link between gardening and health being explored even more this year.  Garden designer and member of the Landscape, Gardens and Health Network, Juliet Sargeant, did a brilliant job working with the teams at Gardeners World and at Chelsea to publicise the importance of nature and gardens for our health.

It's crucial for the future of our parks and green spaces that both policy makers and members of the public grasp the message. It's easy for those of us who are immersed in the gardening world to think that it's common sense, but there are still plenty of people who don't spend much time outside. It's far more difficult for them to appreciate the link. The more media coverage the subject gets, the better.

The National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces now has over 5,000 Friends Groups registered - groups of people who want their local green spaces to be appreciated and protected.  The Federation's goal is to have a Friends Group for every one of our 27,000 urban green spaces. Do you know a park with a Friends Group who have yet to sign up?  http://www.natfedparks.org.uk/membership-1.html

Does Capability Brown deserve a place on the back of the new £20 note?  We have a few weeks left to consider - the deadline for nominations is 19th July.  There's a link on the Capability Brown Festival website and plenty of other Brown related news and events to catch up on too. http://www.capabilitybrown.org/news/capability-brown-next-ps20-note

Masses of opportunities for being outside and making the most of the good weather. A few dates for your diary:

 6 - 7 June, Bristol's Clifton and Hotwells' 2nd Open Gardens Weekend  http://www.cliftonhotwells.org.uk/greensquare.html

13-14 June, Open Garden Squares http://www.opensquares.org/

24 July - 2 August, Love Parks Week http://www.loveparks.org/home/1816

22 September, The AGT and Avon Gardens Trust Study Day, in conjunction with the GHS
'Lancelot 'Capability' Brown at Kings Weston: A Re-assessment Exploring his Legacy of Comfort and Elegance'

Museums, Parks and Capability Brown

Plenty of exciting things going on this month, not least that Capability Brown Festival 2016 has been awarded £911,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund  http://www.capabilitybrown.org/news/heritage-lottery-fund-awards-capability-brown-festival-ps911000-grant - don't forget to sign up to the website to keep up to date as events develop.  If you are in and around London it's worth finding the time to visit two garden-related exhibitions that have just opened.

Painting Paradise: The Art of the Garden runs at the Royal Collection until October http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/exhibitions/painting-paradise-the-art-of-the-garden-bp, while the Garden Museum's Education of a Gardener: The Life and Work of Russell Page is open until 1st June http://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/page/russell-page-03-15-06-15.  In different ways and for different reasons, both exhibitions make very positive contributions to the future of garden history.

The Garden Museum's exhibition gives us a tantalising glimpse of the archive recently deposited by the children of Robert and Jelena de Belder - close friends of Russell Page.  Choose a quiet time to visit and enjoy having the space to really immerse yourself in the material on display.  Then re-read your copy of The Education of a Gardener with fresh eyes.

Think about the privilege and pleasure it must have been for all those involved with curating the exhibition. And of course, of the future generations of students, scholars and garden historians who may, in time, be able to access this wonderful resource.

Perhaps there will be a few more garden historians around the world in years to come as a result of Painting Paradise? This new exhibition shows us the rich variety of 400 years of horticultural art in the Royal Collection.

(copyright Liz Ware)

The paintings are impressive: from the magnificence of Leonard Knyff's View of Hampton Court Palace to the delicate beauty of Leonard da Vinci's seed heads.  But what struck me above all else was the breadth and depth, not only of the Royal Collection, but also of the subject with which we are involved.  Could there be an exhibition about anything other than horticulture that could transport us from the sublime to the practical and back again, and sometimes within the same exhibit?

Look out for Henry VIII's copy of Ruralia Commoda with its tips for growing giant leeks; the recently restored 18th century Sunflower Clock; and Queen Victoria's fuchsia inspired jewellery, adorned with her daughter's milk teeth.

It's good to think that by the time the exhibition ends in October, some visitors will have taken away with them a new curiosity about horticulture having experienced a little of the role it has played in our political and social history.

Lastly, but with great urgency, don't forget to sign the 'Save our Parks' UK petition before the General Election on 7th May.  If you've already done so, please pass on the link to someone who hasn't.  We wouldn't have the urban green spaces we enjoy today if it hadn't been for the efforts of previous generations.  Now it's our turn! https://www.change.org/p/save-our-parks-protect-and-invest-in-the-uk-s-public-green-spaces?recruiter=113025150&utm_campaign=mailto_link&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition