The world of gardening is like the pop culture phenomenon Kevin Bacon’s Six Degrees. You know, you can connect any actor to Kevin Bacon in six steps or less. Take two gardeners from around the world and you’ll probably find some way to connect them. This scenario plays out all the time for me. My gardening neighbor is active in a local extension office, consulted by a soil scientist from a local university whose professor hosts webinars on sustainable gardening, and whose world-renowned native Plant botanists also served as panelists. The famous botanist contacted me only four times. The reason I’m telling you this is because thanks to Six Degrees of Gardening, I’ll be co-hosting an amazing garden tour in the UK this May.
It all started in 2015 when a former Fine Gardening editor wrote a feature article about Midwestern gardens designed by Adam Woodruff. The beauty of that garden stayed with me for several years and in 2020 I contacted Adam to ask if he had a garden. A recent project he wanted to share with FG. It turns out he did. In fact, he moved to the East Coast (a short drive from Fine Gardening headquarters) where he set up a beautiful seaside matrix garden that was finally mature enough for me to visit. That Gorgeous Space cover story is one of my favorites from the past 18 years. During my visit, Adam suggested that I contact his friend Annie Guilfoyle, a well-known British garden designer, and insisted that we need some help. Eventually, Annie and I got on the phone to discuss all things gardening and the idea of teaming up for an in-person and online event. We’ve partnered with Garden Masterclass (run by Annie and Noel Kingsbury) to co-create an online garden design course. That led to a live event hosted by Chanticleer and FG this summer, where Annie was the keynote speaker. It was over dinner that night that we hatched the idea behind a special gardening tour in May 2025.
Over the next few months, Annie has put an incredible amount of time and effort into organizing the most unique and enriching garden tours imaginable. It’s been almost four years since our first conversation about touring, and we’re excited to share the experience with our loyal FG readers. I also feel very lucky that Six Degrees of Gardening exists. Many thanks to Adam Woodruff for introducing me to Annie Guilfoyle.
We look forward to seeing you in the UK in the coming months. There, you’ll no doubt be able to forge Kevin Bacon’s unique connections with garden enthusiasts from a variety of locations and backgrounds. However, we don’t think the Footloose star himself will be attending.
Daniel Shelley, Editor-in-Chief
learn more:
Introducing Annie’s Garden Design Course:
https://finegardening.mykajabi.com/finding-your-garden-style
Check out our garden masterclass courses.
https://courses.finegardening.com/garden-design-ideas
Use this code to get 60% off any of the courses listed above. Perhaps put it in the content spot description: ANNIE60
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