As an artist whose work is predominantly inspired by flowers and nature, I admit to having a slight obsession with gardens, and I spend countless hours with my camera documenting them whenever I can. I am constantly seeking out new and exciting gardens to visit as well as dutifully returning to all of my favorite garden spots on the regular.
I am in no means a horticultural specialist but make up for it with pure enthusiasm! I may not know the names of all the flowers I photograph, but plan on using this blog as a way to learn more and sharing the whole experience with other garden lovers!
The grading of gardens is mostly just an excuse to give an outlet to my own personal interests and promote gardens that I believe everyone must visit. The rating system I have come up with is based on a garden tour I attended with some friends where we cheekily gave a score on a scale from 1 to 5 “blooms” based on our overall impression of each garden. My aim in giving a rating is not to make a negative critique of any garden I visit, but is a way of celebrating those gardens that just take it to the next level and blow me away. Ratings might be adjusted based on repeat visits or different blooming periods of the year.
You can see how gardens and nature inform my floral-inspired sculptural work over on my main art website, enoughforall.com.
– Matt Hollis