Dahlia Field – a portrait for Roger Aylett
Passion Determination Vision, an Eastern Region Textile Exhibition at St Albans Museum until 3rd November 2024
Roger Aylett (1934-2010) was a pioneering award-winning horticulturist and founder of Aylett Nurseries in St Albans.
His awards include 36 consecutive RHS Gold Medals between 1961-1999, the Williams Memorial Medal in 1977 & 1994, The national Dahlia Society Silver Medal 1999 The Gold Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contributions to the science and practice of horticulture 1999
Flowers, floral displays, and gardening drew me to Roger Aylett who I discovered had many links to St Albans and the community, from attending Oaklands College where he began his formal horticultural training in 1953 to the development of land into the successful family run business, Aylett’s Nurseries, which received a St Albans Chamber of Commerce Community Business Award. I found an article online about Roger’s life with a statement from the business award ceremony which read “The way Roger developed his business is a wonderful example of a how a local person can achieve so much with enthusiasm, determination and pure hard work”. This statement along with everything I was learning about Roger was summed up in our exhibition title, Roger had a lifetime of achievements grown from Passion Determination and Vision.
Roger’s many links within the community included a close partnership with St Albans Horticultural Society, a member of St Albans Round Table, he allowed use of his Festival Marquees for local Charity events and in 1977 he brought St Albans its first floral float to celebrate the Queens Jubilee.
Having gained my initial knowledge from articles online I felt a visit to Aylett’s Nurseries was my next step in researching, especially having discovered it was the Garden Centre I had passed for years when travelling between my home and the M25, one I had always said that one day I would stop at! My first visit was just to a look around, of course I bought some plants, including a Dahlia and enjoyed lunch in the café where I found a timeline of Roger’s achievements on the wall. I also learned of the Autumn Festival, which I returned to later that year and took photo’s as I wandered the celebration garden, enjoyed a cream tea and donated to the National Garden Scheme.
Still unsure of what my woven exhibition piece would be I wanted to learn more about Roger and found he had written a book, 50 Golden Gardening Years, which I bought and found a wonderful and often humorous account of how Roger built his career and business with his wife Hazel by his side. I learnt the history behind the Aylett’s Open days which were re named Dahila Festivals and how the Marquees for these festivals also catered for charity events by the Ladies Circle and the Rotary Club of St Albans Verulamium. Entwined in these events is real life as Roger tells the reader about a tray of missing sausages; a very stormy day when Roger watched horrified as the marquee ridge dropped to the ground taking the canvas with it; burst tyres of the Jubilee float and an account of winning a Royal Worcester china coffee pot.
The piece I wove aims to represent the successes, awards and achievements of Roger Aylett and his wife Hazel Aylett – a celebration of colour and floral beauty, a nod to winning RHS stands, the Dahlia field and Aylett Nurseries celebration garden. My imagery is inspired by Roger Aylett’s book 50 Golden Gardening Years and my visit to Aylett Nurseries, 2023 Autumn Festival: a wonderful riot of colour, floral texture and flamboyance. The border of the tapestry has individual hand-woven flowers embedded into the woven background, a nod to the border of Roger’s Gold Veitch Memorial Medal certificate. The gold centres of the individual border flowers, along with the gold flowers in the coffee pot and in the foreground of the tapestry represent the medals Roger won.
Handwoven in good quality waste fibres – wool, linen, cotton and manmade fibres
To find out more about Roger Aylett or the Autumn Festival please visit Aylett Nurseries website on the following link – www.aylettnurseries
Images above:
Main top photo the tapestry being woven / One of the many photos I took at Ayletts Autumn Festival in 2023 / The first of the woven border flowers as I work out the design / The Coffee Pot! / The completed tapestry
Images below: Photos I took at the Dahlia festival in 2023.
This is an evocative tapestry including important aspects of Roger’s life & career. The research you have done is both interesting & inspiring. You have thought carefully about what pictorial aspects to use in the design.