Death of Peter Thoday – horticulturist who helped set up the Lost Gardens of Heligan and the Eden Project in Cornwall
1st July 2023
For students interested in plants and planting, historic gardens and traditional techniques, then viewing the television series The Victorian Kitchen and Flower Garden will be very worthwhile, even dating from a number of years ago. It was mainly thanks to Peter Thoday, who has recently died aged 88, that it was produced and his knowledge and expertise in garden arts and techniques of a bygone age came to the notice of the businessman Tim Smit who needed help with restoring the neglected Victorian estate near Mevagissey in Cornwall that became the Lost Gardens of Heligan where, from 1987, Thoday was the horticultural consultant. For Smit’s subsequent garden, the Eden Project, Thoday was part of the inspiration, then consultant and later horticultural director.
Episode 1 of the Victorian Flower Garden, available on YouTube, narrated by Thoday, gives an excellent introduction to the plants which were popular at that period, where they came from, how they were established in Britain – the techniques employed, best soil management, the value of palm houses. Read an obituary at https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jun/18/peter-thoday-obituary
