The Violette Szabó Garden

To mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day on 8 May, this garden celebrates the life of Violette Szabó, GC, a Special Operations Executive Agent, who worked in occupied France during World War II.

Set in Normandy, it incorporates a small timber-framed ‘farmhouse’, typical of the region and a nod to the remote houses used by agents to send secret radio messages back to London.

In this typical French cottage garden vegetables, herbs, wild flowers and an orchard of gnarled apple trees thrive though an air of neglect permeates the scene. An unkempt hedge frames the space. The planting is feminine, with a palette of pink, cream, amber, copper and deep purple elements.