Accepting that the killer line about Boris that I had secretly hoped for is not about to materialise – I mean, earlier this year Michael described his Henley constituency successor as “a general who marches his army to the sound of the guns and the moment he sees the battleground he abandons it”, for God’s sake – I find myself babbling out of awkwardness. As we delve into the political landscape of the 1990s, this snapshot offers us a unique insight into the dynamics within influential households during times of transition. If all this – anxiety at the influx of the great unwashed; shooting; that throne – give an impression of elitism, the Heseltines are bracingly unconcerned. This print is more than just visual art; it encapsulates historical intrigue and invites viewers to ponder on what could have been while appreciating the timeless elegance displayed by Anne Heseltine herself.

In their own words, Michael and Anne Heseltine describe the ups and downs of how they set about transforming and expanding a wild, overgrown and often dilapidated woodland into the magnificent garden they have today. We’re meeting the day after David Cameron’s former spin doctor Craig Oliver’s incendiary diaries were splashed across the Mail on Sunday, revealing the bitter divides that the referendum created in the government, and putting the boot into Brexiteers such as Boris Johnson. We’re in a living room at Thenford, the family’s grand Northamptonshire home and venue of the remarkable gardens and arboretum that are a large part of their life’s work. In their own words, Michael and Anne Heseltine describe the ups and downs of how they set about transforming and expanding a wild, overgrown and often dilapidated woodland at Thenford into the magnificent garden they have today. All structured data from the main, Property, Lexeme, and EntitySchema namespaces is available under the Creative Commons CC0 License; text in the other namespaces is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.Do you remember, when we lived at Wilton Crescent, we used to walk back from the House of Commons with your heavies, and presumably they weren’t doing their stuff this time. At the thought, I surmise, of large family groups with screaming toddlers and a pram carving its way across the grass, a cloud crosses Michael’s face. As Michael drives me to Banbury train station in his Jaguar, I ask him if he thinks he’s more likely to be remembered for his achievements in politics or his arboretum and garden. Gayle King shares video of Oprah Winfrey reading to her grandson Luca in a sweet 70th birthday tribute.

I’m trying to link the garden’s impervious, permanent beauty to the state of chaos around the country when Michael cuts me off. So there's that wonderful moment when there are primroses, snowdrops and forgetmenots altogether in the spring garden, and it’s suddenly a sea of bloom.Although my favourite garden is the cascading rill, a stunning water feature comprising nine interconnected pools. He swiped cuttings from the prime minister’s country retreat, Chequers (Edward Heath visited, as did John Major, David Cameron, the American ambassador during the Westland affair, Prince Charles, and any number of other grandees; Margaret Thatcher never did), and she chose sculptures by Lynn Chadwick and Elisabeth Frink. Written in both their voices, each taking different chapters, with warmth, amusing anecdotes and respect for the people who have helped advise and craft it' Garden Design Journal.