Category Archives: Uncategorized

Britain’s first public park?

Posted on 20/09/2025 by The Garden History Blog

  Which is the oldest public park in Britain? Most books and websites will tell you that the first  funded from the public purse was Birkenhead Park which opened in 1845.  Others claim that the honour goes to  Derby Arboretum … Continue reading →

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Rocambole: Art in the Garden

Posted on 13/09/2025 by The Garden History Blog

Art has always had a place in gardens.  Historically statues, columns, obelisks, urns, murals and even gnomes have all been very popular additions but more recently there’s been a trend to create sculpture gardens of a different kind, exhibition spaces … Continue reading →

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Here we go round the Mulberry Bush…

Posted on 06/09/2025 by The Garden History Blog

It was  here we go round the mulberry bush in my garden recently – or rather here we go under the mulberry tree. Mine is a Black Mulberry grown almost as much for its foliage and shape, as for its … Continue reading →

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Joseph & Florence Pemberton and their roses

Posted on 30/08/2025 by The Garden History Blog

At one of our open garden days recently visitors were admiring a group of “Buff Beauty” roses which, despite the scorching heat and  weeks of drought, still managed to show a few flowers, and were asking about their origins. I … Continue reading →

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Edward Lear and his floral inventions

Posted on 23/08/2025 by The Garden History Blog

Years ago, in another life,  I was head teacher of a school in north London.  Our playground was on the site of the birthplace  of Edward Lear, so the children and I got to know a lot about him when … Continue reading →

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