Author Archives: The Garden History Blog

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About The Garden History Blog

Website - www.thegardenhistory.blog

Who gives a Fig…especially in Sussex?

We had a bit of a fight on our hands yesterday. Sophia, Dorothy, Blanche and Rose were arguing  in our courtyard.  Then they started to argue with us too.  It was a row about figs. We have a beautiful small … Continue reading

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Batty goes Gothick…

Batty  Langley was an engaging self publicist with an eye to an opening in the market coupled with a  need to make a living. Last week’s post looked at  New Principles of Gardening published in 1728, his first important book. … Continue reading

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Batty’s arti-natural Principles

The wonderfully named Batty Langley was a gardener’s son who followed in his fathers footsteps and then turned surveyor, landscape gardener, artificial stone maker, would-be architect and garden designer, as well as prolific author.  Well  he had to do something … Continue reading

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Recording Britain

War inspires artists,or rather requires artists, to produce propaganda, and many governments have used war artists to record a different take on what is going on to newscasts and documentary films.  Usually this is strident, but on other occasions much … Continue reading

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Peter Smithers: Plantsman, Politician & Floral Pornographer

Sir Peter Smithers [1913-2006] was an intelligence officer, a Tory politician, diplomat and above all a great gardener. “I regard gardening and planting as the other half of life, a counterpoint to the rough and tumble of politics,” he wrote. During his … Continue reading

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