A chance find at the gardens of Sissinghurst led Head Gardener, Sarah Cook, to develop a passion for the tall bearded irises propagated by Cedric Morris at Benton End in Hadleigh.  There in her first winter she saw a label for Iris ‘Benton Nigel’ and it made her think of home.

When Sarah was a child in the 1950s, growing up in Hadleigh she visited Benton End on open days for the Red Cross.  At the time Cedric Morris was a world-famous plantsman, was credited with breeding the first ‘truly pink’ irises, including one called ‘Strathmore’, as well as being a renowned artist and co-founder of the East Anglian School of Painting and drawing with his partner Arthur Lett-Haines.  But by the time Sarah retired from her duties at Sissinghurst in 2004, some 30 years after Cedric’s passing many of his Irises were lost.

Sarah will recount how she tracked down the missing cultivars, with a hunt taking her around the world.  She will also give an insight into Morris’s plant breeding skills, producing 1,000 seedlings per year.  Along the way to repatriating over 30 of Cedric’s 90 named Irises, including ‘Benton Baggage’ named after a cat, Sarah has scaled the heights of British horticulture.  Sarah’s husband Jim, enlisted Howard Nurseries to grow the irises commercially and together they took their discoveries to the Chelsea Flower Show in 2015, winning a gold medal.  Sarah has established the Plant Heritage Historic Collection of Iris (Sir Cedric Morris introductions).

After the talk, Sarah and Jim will be able to take questions on where to acquire and how to grow Irises, as well as some of the many other plants in their care.

7pm Thursday 13th March 2025 Tickets for the talk and a glass of wine or soft drink @ £12 per seat, Doors Open 6.30pm.  Tickets available from The Little Ginger Bee Shop, or online Ticketsource

(or search for Hadleigh Old School on www.ticketsource.co.uk)