ELIZABETH MACGREGOR

When Elizabeth MacGregor tells people that she breeds v iolas, their most common reaction is “Oh, pansies?” Although she doesn’t like to talk ill of other people’s breeding efforts, at this she admits that she struggles to contain herself. “In fact I loathe and detest pansies,” she confides. “They are so often bred to produce large blobs of harsh colours, which is really the opposite of what I love.” Elizabeth has been breeding plants for more than 30 years, and there are definite themes within