Facebook

Garden Movies — Real Garden Stories & Inspiration

By Linda Wiggen Kraft, Healthy Planet Green & Growing Editor

Photo: Mary Reynolds’ Chelsea Flower Show garden

In this chilly winter, movies about gardens can warm our gardener’s hearts. I have two favorites that are perfect to watch when we can’t be out in our gardens.

My very favorite is “Dare to Be Wild”, a true story of a hero of mine. Mary Reynolds is an Irish garden designer. She is described with these words from her website: “Mary is a reformed internationally acclaimed landscape designer who launched her career at the Chelsea flower show in 2002. The story was made into a 2016 movie”.

Mary dreamed of creating a garden for the world’s most prestigious garden show, the Chelsea Garden Show in London. At age 28, she became the first Irish, and also youngest contestant, to win the gold prize at Chelsea. Her journey as an outsider, young upstart, garden designer who would create a wild garden full of beauty, hope and memories that made people cry as they visited it, will warm anyone’s heart when watching the movie. The movie was never shown in U.S. theaters. I was only able to watch it on YouTube, for free, with a few annoying ads.

I admire Mary also as an author, who now calls herself a “reformed garden designer”. Her books “The Garden Awakening” and “We are the Ark” are two of my favorites. Her books and website tell how she helps create wild sanctuary landscapes that nurture all forms of life, human and wild.

Another favorite movie is also based on a true story. “Greenfingers”, although a bit sappy, tells the story of British prisoners who create a garden in an “open prison” that helps teach life skills. In the 2001 movie, the prison garden is discovered by a well-known exuberant gardening expert. She sponsors the inmates in a prestigious flower show. They of course win the best prize for their garden. In the movie there is also a love interest between one of the inmates and the gardening expert’s daughter. Helen Mirren is the gardening expert. The movie is available on Amazon Prime.

The true prison garden story is better than the movie. The inmates of Her Majesty’s Open Prison Leyhill excelled at gardening. They created gardens in the 1990’s and 2000’s for the Hampton Flower show and Chelsea Flower Show. In 2000 and 2001 they won silver and gold Chelsea prizes. They also won the People’s Award which is based on the BBC’s and Chelsea visitors voting for best garden.

Spend some screen time getting inspired by real life gardening stories. Gardening season will soon be here.

Linda Wiggen Kraft is a landscape designer of holistic/organic gardens. She is an artist and creativity workshop leader. Her ceramic jewelry and pottery are available online and at www.gardendistrictstl.com. Find out more, subscribe to her blog and Instagram at www.creativityforthesoul.com Call her at 314 504-4266.