Tessa Traeger
British Artist & Photographer
Your three favourite flowers?
Cerinthe, Viper Bugloss and angelica – all grown from saved seed.
Tell us about your childhood garden?
I was given a shady patch where nothing would grow. I brought it alive with japonica, campanula, and ferns. My family were astonished and thought I must have green fingers.
Who or what inspired your career choice?
It was not until 2000 when I was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to make portraits of the most eminent horticulturists of the day and their gardens. My friend Andrew Lawson guided me in the basics of garden photography which was new to me at that time as portraiture and still life had my usual metier.
What is a typical day in the life of Tessa?
Check the morning light from my bedroom window to see if there are any photographic possibilities such as special sunrise, mist rising on the pond or a hard frost. Next, I check my small greenhouse to see what has come up in the night. I try to plant at least two new seed trays a day in spring. I browse around to see if there is any seasonal wild food such as wild garlic, nettles, dandelion and lambs’ lettuce or in the autumn wild berries. After lunch and a snooze, I spend the rest of the day, until dusk working outside with my gardener Michelle.
No garden is complete without …
Bird bath, bird table and feeders. We are organic here and after 40 years the bird population has increased noticeably.
Something we’d find:
On your bedside table: bouquet of scented flowers
In your flower arrangement: carefully coordinated colours for photography.
In your garden shed: a good pair of secateurs.
The flaw you wish you didn’t have.
Obsessive buying of seed packets.
What would you be in another life?
Horticulturist
Guiding principles?
We allow nature to take its course and do not use any pesticides or insecticides and cherish the slugs and snails for the songbirds to eat. However, there are so many plants that the slugs and snails do not like, so we concentrate on them. We accept our acid soil and wet climate and grow amazing hydrangea and rhododendrons that thrive in this environment.
Who is a horticultural and/or botanical hero?
Jane Scotter, we made a book together called Fern Verrow which is the name of her farm. She follows the biodynamic practices which create the most extraordinary results. Her vegetables and flowers are perfection, pest free, huge and beautiful specimens. Perfect for photography and delicious to eat. Jane grows for Skye Gyngell’s London restaurant Spring and is Head grower at Heckfield Place. We have become the best of friends, and she comes to Cory every few months where we develop new ideas and projects.
What is the one flower or plant you’d never plant in your garden, but don’t detest when you see others plant it?
Bergenia – loved by Gertrude Jekyll and seen en masse at Hestercombe.
If there was a fire, and you could only keep one book on plants and flowers, what would it be?
My own book A Gardeners Labyrinth, because it would remind me of that precious time I spent with those 50 gardeners. Really it was they that taught me to be a gardener.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for?
When I met the legendary editor Marie- France Berger last Christmas she told me over and over again that my pictures always gave her so much joy. If my photographs continue to give people joy, I would be very happy to be known for that, as we do need more joy in this world.
Contact: www.tessatraeger.com Instagram @tessatraeger
Quick fire: Some favourite things
Book (fiction): My favourite books are not fiction. Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake and Garden Jungle by Dave Goulson
Film: Planet Earth
Painting: A vase of flowers by Craigie Aitchison
Smell: Jasmine
Meal: Steak au poivre with French Fries and French beans at La Coupole – our local when I lived in Paris
Travel Destination: Tangiers, Villa Mabrouka – owned by my friend Jasper Conran
A cause near and dear to me: To forbid the practice of keeping dairy cows permanently indoors.
Place to go for inspiration: Take a walk around my own garden and woods.
A great walk near where you live: North Devon coastal footpath.
Thing to collect obsessively: Classic books on photography.
Museum: V&A
Favourite person to follow on Instagram: Patrick Kinmonth
Garden in the UK: Ian Hamilton Finlay’s Little Sparta in Scotland
Garden anywhere else: Giverny, Monet’s Garden
