Stories from Dalston Curve Garden

A green oasis for everyone to enjoy in the heart of busy Dalston. Open 7 days a week, 12 months a year, with a full programme of creative, cultural and volunteering activities.

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Have you spotted the Garden’s 'Hackney Peace Carnival Mural' inspired display, ‘This is Hackney’, in the window of Dalston’s CLR James Library? Do you recognise any of the characterful faces?

Since last year we’ve been exploring the Mural in creative workshops with older people, young people and children from nearby Holy Trinity Primary School. The display in the Library brings together all of their lovingly crafted and incredibly detailed individual models in a re-imagined ‘peace carnival scene’. 

The Mural was designed by Ray Walker and painted by Anna Walker and Mick Jones and this year Roland Walker, the son of Ray and Anna worked with the Garden, Hackney Council, Hackney Archives, and other local organisations to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this iconic piece of public art.

Throughout the Garden’s project, participants of all ages shared their stories of living in Hackney, both 40 years ago when the Mural was first painted, and today. They spoke about their feelings around their own identities and representation, which were further explored as they each crafted the details of their own unique models.

Now they stand united together, in all their diversity, surrounded by some of their own words about the Mural, about community activism, about Hackney and about peace. 

Many thanks to artist educators Laura Halliwell & Corinne Beaty for their brilliant work on ‘This is Hackney’ and to Amirah Samer, Sasha Vinnicombe, Ruby Cowmeadow & Jen White for their model-making and research work. Thanks to Alex Bogdan, Sandra Keating & Morgan Dumitru for their lovely photographs.

The project was supported by ‘Cultural Hackney’. The display will remain in CLR James Library until the end of 2025. 

‘It’s a landmark. A celebration of people getting together and protesting for something positive… It’s full of diversity of people and cultures and beliefs. It’s vibrant and full of music. I feel it really represents Hackney - the people - I know this type of thing happened elsewhere all over the world - but this is Hackney!” Julie F., Mural project participant.

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Celebrating our new Kitchen Garden and Greenhouse

September 2024

This September, as part of London Open House 2024, we were delighted to open the doors to our new ‘secret garden’ within the Garden.

For over two years our team of staff and volunteers have worked hard to transform previously underused parts of the Garden into beautiful, productive spaces for learning, for food-growing, for health & well-being activities and for biodiversity. This new space includes a bespoke 'Peach House', raised planters for growing food and flowers, espalier fruit trees, a new composting area, an outdoor classroom, and a shipping container housing our tool shed and educational materials.

We dreamt up this space three years ago, in response to the challenges of ever increasing visitor numbers and the impact of the shade of the canopy of our trees on our ability to grow food. We also wanted to use it to enhance and support biodiversity and create new opportunities for residents of all ages to get involved in food-growing and hands-on activities and to learn about biodiversity and nature. We are so grateful to the seed-funding from the GLA’s ‘Grow Back Greener Fund’, a generous donation from Sarah Morrison and to a lot of hard graft by all of our team.

The new Kitchen Garden area will not be open to the general public every day, as we plan to be regularly using the space to work with schools and many of the community and support groups we work with, but from next year we also plan to offer more free community workshops open to all in that area, so there will be lots of opportunities to explore. 

This winter, we will continue working on the second phase of  this project, this time to transform another underused area into an outdoor community kitchen. 

Special thanks to Brian Cumming, Dean Young, Paul Rigo and Dave Coleman for all the hard work and creativity they have brought to this project and to the 200 + volunteers who have contributed their time and energy in all weathers! And many thanks to Alex Bogdan and Dean Young for their lovely photos

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"Beautiful Beetles and Snazzy Snails"

Summer 2024

This summer you may have seen the “Beautiful Beetles and Snazzy Snails” mini-exhibition in our Rainbow House. These artworks were created here by children from Holy Trinity Primary School in Dalston. Every Summer term our education team works with their Year 1 children, immersing them in nature and the environment of Dalston Curve Garden, through our 'Inspired by Nature' program of weekly, hands-on learning sessions. 

The children love searching for 'minibeasts' and this year they were very excited to find Stag Beetles in among our log piles! Their discoveries inspired jewel-coloured beetles and rainbow snail artworks. Their creatures were accompanied by collaged plants and creatures, made by Holy Trinity children who, in previous years, have been 'Inspired by Nature' at the Garden.

The children were so proud when they returned to the Garden at the start of this term, now as Year 2, and saw their artworks on display. When we asked how they felt they all shouted out “We are artists!”  Now there's a result!

Exploring the Garden and its plants and minibeasts is an opportunity for the children to grow in confidence and to develop a love of and respect for nature. Planting seeds and watching them grow and become part of the landscape of Dalston Curve Garden offers them a chance to nurture a precious green space right here on their doorstep. 

We are always so proud of everything that the children from Holy Trinity achieve with us at the Garden and want to give a big thank you to artist- educators Laura Halliwell and Corinne Beaty for all their brilliant work this year. 

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Late Summer Plants and Flowers at Dalston Curve Garden

August 2024

Herbs, fruit & veg, and Summer pots packed full of scent and colour, bringing joy to visitors and keeping and pollinating insects happy.

Thanks to Alex Bogdan for her beautiful photos.

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Farewell to our Alliums for another year…We’ve loved them and so have the bees!

Many thanks to Alex Bogdan for her beautiful photos.

#allium #purple #bulb #flowersforbees #dalstoneasterncurvegarden

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'Its tickly feet feel like velcro' 

That was one of the responses from children from Dalston’s Holy Trinity Primary School who were encountering a stag beetle for the first time.

Over recent weeks they’ve been working with artist educators Laura Halliwell and Corinne Beaty and author and nature educator Michael Holland to explore the diversity of mini-beasts that have made their home in the Garden. They’ve been carefully lifting logs to look for their habitats, shaking tree branches onto a white sheet to see what creatures live there, observing ants marching up and down tree trunks and looking for more signs of minibeast activity, such as nibbled leaves. Inspired by their discoveries they’ve been making their own lady-bird puppets, and drawing minibeasts from up close observation. 

This week children were particularly excited to discover a stag beetle living under a log and some even drummed up the courage to let it sit on their hands commenting on how 'its tickly feet feel like velcro'. We are delighted that not only is this priority species now thriving at the Curve Garden among the dead wood log piles that are part of our drive to create diverse habitats, but that Hackney children are learning to love this globally endangered species, as well as less ‘glamorous’ mini-beasts like woodlice.    

Our annual ‘Inspired by Nature’ programme with Holy Trinity Primary School is very special for us and for them. Most of the children don’t have their own gardens, so we love to see them returning to visit us year after year, often bringing family and friends to show off ‘their garden’ to them. Long may their joy in nature in the city continue!

#outdoorlearning#natureinthecity#dalstoneasterncurvegarden#biodiversity#minibeasts#hackneykids

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We loved all the colour that our annual display of tulip brought to the Garden for so much longer than usual this year, because of the cold Spring. 

We’re sharing just a few of the late-flowering varieties here, including old favourites which we grow year after year, as well as introducing some that are new to us, like ‘Slawa’ and ‘Mariette’.

Many thanks to Alex Bogdan and Sandra Keating for their beautiful tulip photos, which feature these late varieties:

Photo 1: ‘Amber Glow’

Photo 2: ‘Mariette’ 

Photo 3: ‘Spring Green’

Photo 4 and 6: ‘Ballerina’

Photo 7: ‘Menton’

Photo 8: ‘Slawa’ (with ‘Acuminata’ and ‘Finola’ in background) 

Photo 9: ‘Amazing Parrot’

Photo 10: ‘Finola’ 

Thanks to the Garden volunteers who worked hard last Autumn planting hundreds of bulbs and to our Gardener Dean Young who has made sure that the ever-changing display of tulips and Spring flowering bulbs has looked stunning for so long.

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Dalston Curve Garden has been incredibly lush with botanical beauty these last few weeks. It’s not just our colourful display of tulips in pots that have been bringing daily joy, but also the emerging waves of whites, yellows and blues of Spring flowering bulbs, flourishing under the light leaf canopies of our Birch and Alder trees. 

One silver lining of the prolonged cold weather this Spring has been the longer flowering period for many of our plants. We still have several Daffodils in flower - Narcissus ‘Pipit’ and the sweet-scented miniature ‘Baby Moon’ alongside Muscari latifolium, Erythronium ‘Pagoda’ and the Spring Star flower, Ipheion uniflorum ‘Wisley Blue’, with its sweet-scented lavender blue flowers. Add to this the Hawthorn, Cherry and Apple tree blossom buzzing with bees, the fresh green of unfurling fern fronds and the dainty heart-shaped leaves of Epimediums and it really does make it a very special time to drop in to the garden.

The Garden and cafe are open this Bank Holiday weekend on Friday 5 & Saturday 6 May. 1-10pm and on Sunday 7 & Bank Holiday Monday 8 May, 1-8pm.  

Thanks to Sandra Keating and Alex Bogdan, for their beautiful photos. All photos are copyright of Dalston Eastern Curve Garden.

If, like us, you are obsessed with tulips, do keep an eye out for our upcoming post on our favourite late-flowering varieties. 

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Tuesdays at Dalston Curve Garden 

If you’ve recently walked along Dalston Lane, or passed by on the bus, you may have noticed a number of photographic portraits, located high up on the wall immediately outside the Garden and in the windows of a number of nearby shops, venues and community organisations. They are all part of the ‘Tuesdays at Dalston Curve Garden’ exhibition, which shines a light on a very special group of people. 

The portraits are by photographers Sandra Keating and Erola Arcalís who have been documenting this group since 2020 and the exhibition has been curated by the Garden’s team, in consultation with the members of the group.

The Tuesday group grew out of the programme of daily community mornings set up by the Garden in 2020, to counter the social isolation caused by the pandemic restrictions. The silver lining from what was a terrible time for so many people, has been the emergence of this amazing group of people. In the beginning, the only thing we knew that these individuals had in common was that they were all aged over 50 and that many of them lived alone. Since then the group have shared laughter, tears and joy, good moods and bad moods, and life stories. Now over 100 people regularly come together, all year round, to experience the tranquillity of the Garden, to take part in creative activities, to enjoy nutritious food, and most of all to build friendships. 

On Saturday 25 February we will be celebrating the launch of the ‘Tuesdays at Dalston Curve Garden’ exhibition, with two free events. Erola Arcalís will describe her experience and thoughts about taking these photographic portraits and members of the Garden’s ‘Tuesdays’ creative team will talk about the story of the group. There will be lots of time for questions.  

The talks will begin just outside the Garden, in front of the portrait wall, opposite the Hackney Peace Carnival Mural before moving inside to the Garden’s Pineapple House. 

Places for each talk are free but limited, so booking is essential. Follow the links below to book; 

Saturday 25 February, 12.30-1.30pm 

Saturday 25 February, 3-4pm

The ‘Tuesdays at Dalston Curve Garden’ exhibition and talks have been supported by Hackney Council’s Hackney High Street Fund. 

The portraits are taken by Sandra Keating and Erola Arcalís and are © Dalston Eastern Curve Garden. 

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On a beautiful sunny October Sunday, Garden visitors took part in a very special needle-felting workshop led by artist Kathryn Holt.  Participants were able to create their own beautiful designs, in vibrant autumn colours, many inspired by the season.

Needle felting is an incredibly effective but simple and accessible craft. It works by using a special needle to bond fluffy wool fibres together through a process of tangling them, as the needle is pushed in and out of the wool. This process is also very satisfying!

Inspired by the surroundings of the Curve Garden, including plants and fungi, and a beautiful display of Autumn leaves, participants created a whole range of seasonal designs. They included pumpkins and a spooky halloween ghost, as well as flowers, sunsets, and even portraits of pets.

Inspiration quite literally landed in front of one participant, when a tiny Mint Moth, with its distinctive yellow spots, paused for a rest in front of him, resulting in him creating a wonderful scaled up version in felt!

Though we really only set out to work in 2D, several participants tried their hand at 3D pieces, including cute little pumpkins, fungi and even peas in a pod. Just as wonderful were the abstract designs which made good use of the beautiful range of colours and textures available for experimenting.

Those who took part said they found the activity very relaxing and strangely addictive with one participant saying “I’m starting a new job tomorrow, so this activity has calmed my nerves! My daughter loved it too and says she now wants to take it up as a hobby.”

Many thanks to Kathryn Holt for another wonderful workshop inspired by nature!

This workshop was part of this year’s community programming at the Garden exploring plants, nature and biodiversity throughout the seasons and was supported by Hackney Council’s 'High Streets' and ‘Hello Again Hackney’ funds. 

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We are taking a look back at some of the late Summer-flowering plants that have brought colour, scent and joy to the Garden this Autumn for visitors and bees. 

Some of these botanical stars are still flowering in pots and places and spaces throughout the Garden and include the bee magnet Cosmos, the many-coloured Morning Glory flowers, beautifully scented Abyssinian Gladioli, cheerful Rudbeckia and several Dahlia varieties. This year we grew the airy grass Panicum elegans ‘Sprinkles’ from seed, to tuck in among the containers of flowers. Our Butterfly Bush is still looking good and supporting lots of pollinators. 

Thank you to Erola Arcalis for her beautiful record of late-flowering plants in the Curve Garden and to our Gardener Dean Young for creating such a magnificent flowering display.

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Late Summer 2022 in the Garden 

The Dahlias, Sunflowers (‘Velvet Queen’), Rudbeckia, Butterfly Bush and beautiful flowers of climbing beans are all bringing colour and joy to the Curve Garden in late summer. They are also ensuring that we continue to support the bees, butterflies, Ladybirds and other insects. You can spot some of them here in our pictures, if you look closely. 

The main story for us right now though, as for all gardens, is the challenge of this summer’s hot, dry weather. We aim to be efficient with water, for instance choosing plants carefully, collecting water in barrels and not watering the beds once plants have established in their first year. However this year we have had to water the beds, including those with ‘drought-tolerant’ plants, just to keep them alive. We’ve invested in some soak hoses to allow us to water some beds at night, by timer, when it’s cooler and there’s less evaporation, which is one way of watering efficiently. Like most gardeners though, we are desperate for some rain!

On the up side, our herbs including Sage, Thyme, Oregano and our favourite Lemon Verbena are all thriving in the hot weather and the bees and insects are loving them too.

We've planted the first of our new raised planters in the area behind our stage that we are transforming into a Kitchen Garden, thanks to support from the GLA ‘Grow Back Greener’ fund. This time next year this whole  area will be abundant with espalier fruit trees, vegetables, soft fruits, herbs and pollinator-friendly flowers. Holy Trinity Primary School helped make a start this summer term by growing climbing beans from seed. We are looking forward to showing them how tall they have grown and to harvesting their beans, when they return to visit in September. 

Thank you to Erola Arcalis for capturing the beauty of late Summer in the Curve Garden. All photos are copyright of Dalston Eastern Curve Garden 

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Botanical sun-printing

'Botanical sun-printing' is inspired by the birth of photography and the work of pioneering Nineteenth Century photographer and inventor William Henry Fox Talbot and photographer and botanist Anna Atkins. They made some of their earliest images using flowers and plants.  

On a sunny Sunday afternoon last month Dalston-based photographer Heather McDonough led a wonderful series of workshops in the Garden. Participants of all ages created their own unique artworks inspired by these early 'camera-less' photographic printing techniques, using weeds, grasses, flowers and ferns found in Dalston Curve Garden.

One participant described the experience:   “I enjoyed the teaching, the process, the outcome! I made beautiful prints, and it was exciting for all ages.” 

We think the fun and creativity of the workshops and the joy felt by all of the participants when they saw their finished artworks, was beautifully captured by photographer Morgan Dumitru who volunteered his afternoon to document the workshops. 

Heather McDonough has been a professional photographer for twenty years, making work for numerous public commissions and exhibitions in the UK and internationally. She is also a senior lecturer in photography at London Metropolitan University.

We are delighted that she is returning to the Garden to offer three more hour-long botanical sun-printing workshops on Sunday 31 July with sessions starting at 2, 3 & 4pm. These workshops are primarily aimed at adults and places are limited to 10 people per workshop, with priority given to Hackney residents.  Family groups are welcome, however children must be aged 5+ and accompanied on a one adult to no more than two children basis. 

We don't take bookings, but as places are limited, they are offered on a 'first come first served' basis for each session, so we recommend you come early to avoid disappointment. 

We are able to offer the botanical sun-printing workshops free to participants thanks to support from the Hello Again Hackney and Hackney High Streets funding programmes. 

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Outdoor Gallery of flowers at the Curve Garden

If you’ve visited the Garden recently or even just passed by on Dalston Lane, you will have spotted our new ‘outdoor gallery’ mounted on the wall just outside our entrance, opposite Hackney Peace Carnival Mural.

We are delighted to have been awarded a grant from the ‘Hackney High Streets Fund’ which means that this year, through our ‘High Street Garden’ project, we will be able to share a little glimpse of the Garden, through a changing display of images. One of the aims of the project is to introduce passersby, who may not have previously visited the Garden, to the plants and community life that lie beyond our fence and to spread the word about supporting biodiversity. 

The first of our seasonal galleries puts the focus on ‘Flowers from Dalston Curve Garden’. Over many years we have been blessed to have a number of brilliant photographers recording the plants here and we now have an amazing photographic archive. One of these photographers, Erola Arcalis describes what recording the plants here means to her:

“I first photographed the Curve Garden nine years ago. The Garden has taught me how to look at plants and which ones to look out for each season. Even though the planting has changed and the trees have grown over time, I know the Garden's colours and textures almost by heart. The red spires of the Pineapple Sage and the delicate blue petals of the Crocus in winter; the tiny white Snowdrops announcing the beginning of Spring together with  Lilacs and Alliums; the lively coloured Hollyhocks in Summer; and the ocre leaves of the Silver Birches during the pumpkin season”.

It was such a challenge for us to make a selection of just 12 pictures from our archive, but here’s what we finally chose for display.

Tulip ‘Angelique’ Photographer:Alex Bogdan

Narcissus ‘Baby Moon’ Photographer: Sandra Keating

Tulip ‘Ballerina’ Photographer: Sandra Keating

Tulip clusiana ‘Cynthia’ and Muscari latifolium Photographer: Sandra Keating

Tulip “Menton’ Photographer: Sandra Keating

Erythronium ‘Pagoda’ and Muscari latifolium Photographer: Erola Arcalis

Tulip ‘Abu Hassan’ Photographer: Sandra Keating

Leucojum aestivum ‘Gravetye Giant” Photographer: Alex Bogdan

Crocus tomasanianus ‘Ruby Giant’ Tulip ‘Amazing Parrot’   Photographer: Alex Bogdan

Tulip bakerii “Lilac Beauty’ Photographer: Alex Bogdan

Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ Photographer: Sandra Keating  

Photographer Alex Bogdan says: “Every one of the flowers in these photographs has been planted and cared for by dedicated volunteers. I feel very privileged to be able to capture the beauty that they've created through so much hard work.

When you walk into the Curve Garden you're met with an explosion of colour from thousands of flowers. But when you get closer, you see that every flower has its unique personality and beauty. Tulip ‘Angelique’ have a sort of very delicate but distant elegance, like they belong in an old Dutch masters painting and ‘Amazing Parrot’, with their feathery petals remind me of flamenco dresses. They're some of the most showy tulips, the star of the show. The little Tulip bakerii “Lilac Beauty” are some of the friendliest, genuinely happy to be where they are. For me they're some of the more difficult to photograph in a way that truly captures their joyfulness.

Leucojum ‘Gravetye Giant” (Snowflakes) are some of my favourites. They flower for the longest time. It can be easy to overlook them as they seem to be always there, carrying the Garden through the cold days of early Spring until April when other spring bulbs are ready to burst into colour. But their flowers have the most intricate and delicate design. They're beautiful!”

And the final word goes to photographer Sandra Keating: “This is more than just an exhibition of beautiful flowers on a busy street in Dalston. It’s the people and the place behind these flowers that make it such a special exhibition to be part of. I’ve been incredibly lucky to work as an “in-house" garden photographer for so many years. Photographing plants in this vital green space along with other amazing photographers has quite literally been a dream come true.”

Thanks to Erola, Alex and Sandra for their beautiful botanical record, to our team of staff and volunteers for helping install the ‘Outdoor Gallery’, to www.coloursonic.co.uk for their beautiful prints and to www.futurehackney.com for advising us on printing for outdoor display. 

You can read more here about the other ‘Hackney High Street funded projects’. 

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Tulips in the Curve Garden, April 2022

Many thanks to photographer Erola Arcalis for her beautiful record of the Tulips in the Garden in late April. The tulips pictured include:

Tulip ‘Abu Hassan’

Tulip bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’

Tulip clusiana ‘Cynthia’  

Tulip ‘Flaming Purissima’ 

Tulip ‘Menton’

And thanks to Gardener Dean Young and our team of volunteers who worked hard planting them all as bulbs last Autumn. 

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Painting Tulips on a rainy day in the Garden, May 2022

Despite a dull, wet day for last week’s Tuesday group for older people, it was a morning full of joy and creativity, thanks to artist Corinne Beaty who devised and led a wonderful watercolour ‘master-class’, inspired by the last of this year’s beautiful Tulips in the Garden. Corinne describes the workshop:

“Tulips have some very peculiar names like “Amazing Parrot” or ‘Flaming Purissima’ and I had this in the back of my mind when I was planning last week’s watercolour ‘master class’. I was getting so sentimental about the Curve Garden tulips ‘going soon’ so I wanted to work with the group to record the last of their blooms, before they disappeared for another year. 

I’ve been working on the ‘Little Museum of Spring’ with Laura Halliwell, so I wanted each member of the group to draw and watercolour a cut tulip specimen, found in the garden that morning, in the style of a botanical illustration, before naming “their” tulip with something associated with their “identity”. The completed artworks will be added to the ever-changing display in the Little Museum. 

The result of their watercolour images is wonderful and the names they chose for their tulips often give a hint as to the member of our group who painted them. We had “Mountain Flower” (in Greek), ‘Sly Mongoose’ ‘Upbeat in St Vincent’, ‘Yellow Fellow’,  ‘Friendly Raymond’ ‘Party, Party, Party’ and ‘Frilly Knickers’!

Many thanks to Corinne for her brilliant workshop, to volunteers Rachel West and Miriam Sedacca for their help and to photographer Erola Arcalis for her beautiful record of the morning. And of course thanks to all the workshop participants for their beautiful artworks. 

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Late Flowering Tulips, May 2022

This year’s display of tulips in containers at the Garden has been just glorious!

We always feel a little bit sad when the late-flowering varieties start to drop their last petals and we move all the pots and containers away until next year...

We’re cheering ourselves up by taking a moment to celebrate our tulips, thanks to Erola Arcalis and Alex Bogdan who have recorded them so beautifully in their photos.

The tulip varieties pictured here include: 

Tulip ‘Amazing Parrot ’ (frilly edges)

Tulip ‘Angelique’ (sugar pink)

Tulip ‘Ballerina’ (orange) 

Tulip ‘Dutch Dancer’ (Tomato Red)

Tulip ‘Menton’ (Sherbert Pink)

Tulip ‘Queen of the Night’

Tulip ‘Spring Green’

Thanks to the Garden volunteers who worked hard last Autumn to plant hundreds of Spring-flowering bulbs in the ground and in pots and containers, including tulips and to our Gardener Dean Young who has worked with the volunteers to keep this year’s every-changing display of Tulips looking stunning.