Landscape artist Sylvia Crowe thought the more intense, synthetic colours – like blue, which is hardly found in nature – threw off the ‘subtle harmony of the wild plant’ (Garden Design, 1958). Jean-Jacques Rousseau even called hybrids ‘nature disfigured by man’ (La Botanique, 1805). However, by being more low-maintenance and disease-tolerant, plant hybrids reduce the impact of use of water, chemical-based pest control and fertiliser, while increasing habitat and food sources for wildlife.
Growns speaks about how his work aims to unite science and aesthetics, his response to common criticisms, his horticultural inspiration and his Western Australian pride of place.