Outbuilding of the Week: A Stable for Horses and Flowers in Wiltshire - Gardenista
Photography by Britt Willoughby Dyer.
Polly Nicholson’s stables do accommodate ponies but the more luxurious quarters have been set aside for her business as a cut flower grower: Bayntun Flowers.
With vases in the stalls and collections of other receptacles dotted around under the hayloft, the building’s layout translates perfectly from animal husbandry to floristry.
The exterior of the stables and coach house, dating from the 1760s. An enfilade of light leads from the front of the stables as seen from the drive (above), straight out to the walled garden.
Tulips outside Bayntun Flowers in Wiltshire. To calm the colors, some plain viridiflora tulips are threaded through.
The original design of the old stables is one of glorious efficiency. Floors that drain easily; walls painted in gloss: the interiors were left as they were found.
The flower room looks out over the walled garden.
The horses have been moved to more democratic quarters on the other side of the coach house.
Dried alliums are tied to the hayloft steps, their stems pierced and strung.
The stable doors from the walled garden. The exteriors of the outbuildings were re-pointed.
Ivy-leafed hardware is a leitmotif around the outbuildings.
Useful creamware makes a monochrome collection. The vase cupboard is painted the same color as the exterior of the stables.
A simple jug of “leftover” tulips. The first four are available commercially; the last three are not, but we now know where to try to order them, as cut flowers.