THE MODERN MINT BLOG
How do you grow Cassia in the UK? You have to make it up as you go along….
We have found a lovely, short interview about growing the botanicals for Bombay Sapphire Gin in 2 glasshouses in Hampshire (near where we learnt to garden just outside Basingstoke!)
According to the gardener Chris Cottrell, who runs the glasshouses at Laverstoke Mill, the only other place in the country that is growing cassia is Kew, so when it starts to look unhealthy there are not a lot of places to turn for advice.
It is the bark of the cassia tree that is used to flavour Bombay Sapphire Gin.
Read the article here.
Grab a bottle of Bombay Sapphire here.
Or discover more about UK Gin, the artisans that make it and the range of botanicals used in one of our most popular blog posts at Modern Mint – Best Gin 2017 – The Most Useful Guide To UK Gin.
Topiary Workshop 2026 at Waltham Place
The next topiary workshop I will be teaching is now live on the website and can be booked! Just visit Waltham Place to get a ticket for the Topiary Workshop I will be teaching on Friday September 4th at Waltham Place. Myself and Chris Poole of the European Boxwood and Topiary Society (Buxus expert! Like, he knows everything there is to know about the plant! So worth booking just to tap into his knowledge….!) will be teaching here for the… fifth year in a row I think? The garden is a beautiful place to spend time clipping. We will teach …
Michael Gibson, New York Topiary Art!
In the New York Times earlier this year was a lovely interview with Michael Gibson, who makes topiary and gardens in New York. The article is here but you may not have access… however, search the internet, find it and have a read. It is great! His philosophy of pruning is especially worth it… Sacred geometry in topiary? Yes please! What a phrase! I think (and speak) of balance, of major and minor, of leaf volume… but sacred geometry might well make it into my topiary teaching lexicon! And the idea of directional trimming? I realise I do this, but …
Topiary Library
I do a lot of teaching topiary. I had the opportunity from my mentor, Charlotte Molesworth, to work on her garden and experiment and test techniques and generally try making shapes without the worry of failure, or being fired, or being sued and run out of business for getting it wrong. This opportunity was essential (along with Charlotte’s insistance that pruning standards had to be high!) in becoming better at topiary. When I look around the world at our cultural vitamins, what we see in the media day in and day out, I see the stupidest and grossest of people …