Gardens without borders: Talks at Gardening Scotland and the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show
It has been our great pleasure this month to give two talks at gardening shows in the UK.
Gardening Scotland: 1 June
We were delighted when Scotland’s Rural University College student John Thoumire contacted us about his ‘College Street’ garden, inspired by the Lemon Tree Trust show garden at RHS Chelsea 2018.
John’s garden, ‘Bayet’ means ‘home’ in Arabic. The garden aims to raise awareness of the importance of gardens and gardening to people fleeing war and violence, helping them to overcome trauma and move on with their lives. A Silver Gilt medal was awarded.
We helped to sponsor Bayet and during Gardening Scotland, we gave an illustrated talk and hosted a Q&A session with John. We explored John’s background and journey from war correspondent to gardener and how gardens create community.
RHS Chatsworth Flower Show: 5 June
We joined Chatsworth House head cut flower grower Becky Crowley to offer a new perspective on cut flowers at the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show. In our talk, ‘Gardens Without Borders’, we explored how the cutting garden at Chatsworth is linked to the flora of Kurdistan and the gardens that people are building there in refugee camps. Becky gave behind-the-scenes views of the cutting garden and we showed how flowers are as important to survivors of war in Kurdistan as they are to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.
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Find out more about our work and how gardening helps survivors of war
Many thanks to Megan Davis at Perennial Gatherings for her generous donation this May, the latest in a series of kind contributions to Lemon Tree Trust over the years. Perennial Gatherings is a Vancouver-based floral studio and social enterprise, specialising in thoughtfully curated arrangements made with locally grown, seasonal blooms. Profits from floral sales are … Continued
Each month, our teams visit home gardens across nine camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to select a Garden of the Month winner. This April, we are delighted to celebrate nine gardeners whose creativity, commitment and passion for growing have transformed the spaces around their home shelters. Why the award matters In camps where … Continued
This spring, Othman Qewas, our Hêvî Community Garden manager, has been visiting schools in Gawilan camp, distributing tree and flower seedlings to children and introducing Lemon Tree Trust’s work to a new generation of young growers. Othman visited all five primary schools in Gawilan camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, reaching 124 pupils. At … Continued