Life since Uni

Graduation Day was fun....really good to see everyone again, all in black capes and funny hats. It was really nice to celebrate the end of our studies, as a few months ago, there were times when I could never imagine it ending. Now the pain of it all is definitely fading, and life has changed again. Apart from a few days out, I have been working part time and hitting the job campaign trail. All in all I interviewed at 7 different places, and am now celebrating since accepting a job offer with a landscape architecture practice called Levitt Bernstein, where I will start at the end of the month. I am really excited about it. The interviews I went to really opened my eyes about all the different approaches that practices have. Some were really impressive and others disappointed me a bit.....but all in all there are a lot of interesting things happening in London right now.

Here are some pictures from Hampton Court, on one of my few days off. I have never been to Chelsea or H/Court, so it was interesting to go. I guess I have never really got my head around the whole, 'short lived' showgarden idea. Especially gardens that are a kind of replica of a sea side cottage etc........I just don't get it. I was more impressed with the conceptual approaches, because I think showgardens should be exploring the boundaries of what a garden is, rather than recreating something which, although beautiful.....is nothing we haven't seen before. I think Heidi and Fern's garden was the most conceptual approach there, and it photgraphed very nicely too! Apparently they were marked down because they planted something, somewhere where it would not grow in reality. Considering that most of these showgardens contain plants that are flowering completely out of season, that have been manipulated in greenhouses and with hairdryers, I think that criticism is a load of bollocks.
Other photos are of a gabion wall, filled with flint.......which I had used in my design for uni, but could I find a precedent image of one before now......no!.......always the bleeding way, isn't it! Also a photo of Eremurus x isabellinus 'Cleopatra', which I think looks fantastic mass planted.