National Collection of Nerines

​It is part of a Guernsey childhood to grow up with tales of shipwreck and salvage.  The story, potentially apocryphal, is that nerines arrived on the beaches of my home island in this very manner.   Along with their South African sister the Agapanthus, they have thrived in Guernsey and it was a thrill to photograph The Guernsey National Collection of Nerines care for by Plant Heritage Guernsey.

They say that Guernsey folk are always on a rubber-band pulling them back; in a stolen moment before the November Covid-19 lockdown, a flight to Guernsey was possible to be amongst the people and places of home.  In this time of crisis and unknown trajectories, there seems to be a great need for that feeling of home and belonging.  For me, these nerines – and their greenhouse - are a representation of that very thing and I was keen to capture a moment of their beauty at the end of the season.  Fittingly, they were on the cusp of their winter fade with some in full splendour and some submitting to the change of the seasons.  The Collection beamed with timeless beauty whilst giving a reassuring nod to the cycle of their growing year and the year to come. 

It was a joyful thing to walk amongst the plants with my camera, being drawn in by the Collection as a whole and at a more intimate, individual level; photographing the character of these plants, both delicate and flamboyant, and the peace and beauty of what they represent.