Today’s post is about the result of a conversation in the very late 19thc between Miss J.S. Turner “a fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society and a well-known trainer and lecturer in horticulture” and Mrs Evelyn Cecil, who is probably better known as Alicia Amherst the pioneer garden historian.
The discussion concerned the training of women in horticulture, but unlike the settlement at Bredon’s Norton which I wrote about a few weeks back, it was not aimed at women who wanted to earn their living as Independent gardeners, but at those who wanted to emigrate.[ And that’s before Brexit]
Mrs Cecil suggested that “one of the great wants of our colonies was well-trained lady-like girls who would make good wives.” Miss Turner’s “idea of a way out of the difficulty was to establish a training school where ladies could be made familiar with the old-fashioned farmhouse life.” And early in 1907 their efforts resulted in the opening of Arlesey House Country and Colonial Training School for Ladies.
From The Girl’s Realm, 1907
As I arrived at the posh hotel I was staying in [bargain winter break prices I hasten to add] I was reminded of new work from each of those forums. At our 2015 conference we heard a paper about villa gardens on the Ligurian coast of Italy, and recently there was an essay prize entry on the exotic gardens created for new grand hotels along the French Riviera in the late 19th. As it happens I wasn’t in either France or Italy although there is a strong French influence, as you will have realised if you’ve worked out who did the painting and inspired the pattern that was on part of my bedroom wall and ceiling.
The Garden History Blog 
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