To celebrate the release of FREDERIC’s newest book, Glorious Gardens: Private Edens of the World’s Leading Interior Designers (Monacelli), we’re sharing an exclusive look at one of the stunning properties featured in its pages: The oxfordshire oasis of emma burns, managing director of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. To see even more inspiring gardens, ORDER YOUR COPY of glorious gardens TODAY!
Few names in the world of design ring quite so quintessentially British as that of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler: For more than 90 years, the esteemed firm has defined English decoration around the world, from Buckingham Palace to Mustique. Today, managing director Emma Burns is helping to continue that legacy, both in her work for the firm and at her country home, where she has cultivated a garden as thoroughly English as the legacy that precedes her.
A long border is planted with Alchemilla mollis, alliums, Knautia macedonica, yew trees, and tall silver Onopordum acanthium.
Mimi ConnollyLocated in the Oxfordshire countryside, Burns’s historic property dates back to the late 18th century. “They were originally part of one of the ‘big’ houses in the village,” she explains of the slate-roofed dovecote and stables, the latter of which her parents converted into a house some 50 years ago. “It’s a modest building with a huge personality,” she adds.
“I remember the very first time I went to Sissinghurst, how I was blown away by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson’s designs. I read everything I could get my hands on about how they created their garden.”
Emma Burns
The pathway from the parking area into the garden is separated by an old loose box divider from the house conversion that Burns fashioned into a gate.
Mimi Connolly
A free-flowing, organic border of Erigeron karvanisanius.
Mimi ConnollyJust as Burns’s interiors balance formality and warmth, her expertly cultivated garden blends structure and softness. “I see my garden as a series of ‘rooms’ that lead one from the next in a gentle progression,” she muses. Its precisely trimmed hedges and topiary shapes provide a framework for the abundant plantings that overflow with color and texture; meandering paths invite visitors to pause in admiration. Among Burns’s favorite elements are the snowdrops that make their first hopeful appearance each season, the dramatic Malianthus, fragrant Etoile d’Holland roses, and delicate Alchemilla mollis.
A colourful shisha (mirror-work embroidery) umbrella covers a terrace seating area at the end of a long border lined with Alchemilla mollis, Allium seed heads, Knautia macedonica, Lavender, yew trees and tall silver Onopordum acanthium.
Mimi ConnollyThe inspirations that have shaped Burns’s classically English approach to gardening can be traced back to her childhood, when she accompanied her mother and grandmother to marvel at the designs of legendary horticulturists. “I remember the very first time I went to Sissinghurst, how I was blown away by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson’s designs,” Burns recalls. “I read everything I could get my hands on about how they created their garden.”
Yew hedges, topiaries, and boxwood balls frame the view toward the meadow area.
Mimi ConnollyChristopher Lloyd’s work at Great Dixter, especially “the memorable pots around the front door,” still looms large in her memory, as does Charlotte Molesworth’s garden at Benenden: “Her magical topiary inspired the birds on my yew hedges,” adds Burns.
Burns filled old dove roosts in the stairway of the house with decoy pigeons.
Mimi ConnollyBurns’s connection to her own plot of land is palpable. “I’ve been gardening for about 22 years, and I find it to be a constant source of joy,” she says. “I’m an incredibly impatient person, and I love that the garden and the plants have their own timetable that cannot be rushed. It’s meditative and calming and a bit tiring in the best way.”
This story appearS in GLORIOUS GARDENS: PRIVATE EDENS OF THE WORLD’S LEADING INTERIOR DESIGNERS. ORDER YOUR COPY here.
