The Garden History Blog

George Glenny- perhaps the most cantankerous Victorian gardener imaginable

Posted on 21/07/2018 by The Garden History Blog

George Glenny: more than just another Victorian beardy?

If you were asked to name a great Victorian garden writer I bet John Claudius Loudon, William Robinson, or Shirley Hibberd would spring to mind immediately- but what about George Glenny? He was as prolific as the rest of them, started and edited several gardening [and other] magazines, was the first to have a gardening column in a popular newspaper, wrote a large number of gardening books, was connected [albeit rather grumpily!] with the Horticultural Society and even had green fingers himself winning countless cups and medals at horticultural shows.

So why isn’t he better known?

Maybe it’s because he was a man of decidedly strong views who fell out spectacularly with the horticultural establishment, was incapable of being collaborative and developed a razor sharp and often vitriolic tone. So who was this strange mixture? and is Will Tjaden’s description of him as “a horticultural hornet” deserved? [W.L. Tjaden, “George Glenny, The Garden (1986) 111 pp. 318–23]. Read on to find out. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged chiswick, dahlias, flower shows, Gardener's Chronicle, Gardeners Magazine, Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution, George Glenny, Horticultural Society, Horticutural Journal, John Claudius Loudon, Joseph Harrison, joseph paxton, kew, nurserymen, Queen Adelaide, Royaal Ladies Magazine | 2 Comments

Joseph, Victoria and the amazing leaf

Posted on 14/07/2018 by The Garden History Blog

Photo taken in Adelaide Botanic Gardens 1910
State Library of South Australia

Picture the scene. A small group of well dressed people stand around a room with a large pond in the middle watching a serious looking man and a 9 yr old girl. Everyone watches in silence as he lifts her up and swings her out over the edge of the water. You must have been able to hear the proverbial pin drop as he slowly lowers her down onto a plank of wood that was itself sitting on top of a large floating leaf. The hush soon turns into gasps and then a round of applause as the girl, instead of sinking under the surface, takes a hesitant step and smiles. The leaf hasn’t buckled even under the 15lb weight of the plank and the 42lb weight of the child. Not a tiny fraction had gone under the water. Her shoes aren’t even wet. The serious looking man had not just wowed his audience but was about to transform British architecture as well inspired by the strength of that leaf.

from J.F. Allen, Victoria regia, or The great waterlily of America, 1854

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Chatsworth, conservatory, duke of devonshire, greenhouse, hothouse, John Lindley, joseph paxton, kew, Syon, technology, water gardens, water lily, william hooker | 3 Comments

Mrs Delany’s Petticoat

Posted on 07/07/2018 by The Garden History Blog

Firescreen with embroidery design attributed to Mary Delany [then Mary Pendarves] c.1740

I write about all sorts of strange things on this blog but can’t think of much more obscure than this week’s starting point which is a Georgian firescreen which turns out not to be just a firescreen but part of a panel for a dress. If you’re wondering why then take a careful look at the workmanship. It was so fine that when the owner died her heirs took the dress apart, divided it up and framed the best sections.

But what’s that got to do with garden history? Quite simply the dress was designed by Mary Pendarves [later Mrs Delany], the heroine of a recent post about her botanical art in cut paper form, and the dress – strictly speaking a petticoat for a court mantua – shows that her botanical knowledge and craft skills were immense, so the dress has, according to garden historian Mark Laird, “the most accurate horticultural detailing of any work I’ve seen from this period.”

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged auricula, botanical art, Chinoiserie, embroidery, fashion, flowers, geranium, honeysuckle, Mrs Delany, parterre, Roses, ruins, William Kent | 1 Comment

Another victory for Houghton

Posted on 30/06/2018 by The Garden History Blog

Sybil Sassoon, late 1920s, by Cecil Beaton, NPG

Houghton Hall in Norfolk (which I wrote about last week) hit the headlines in the arts pages earlier this year because it is playing host in a spectacular way to an exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Damien Hirst. The roads for miles around were splashed with posters featuring Hirst’s spotty paintings enticing visitors to go and see them in the state apartments where the family portraits normally hang . So while last week’s post was a potted history of this great 18thc estate in Norfolk this week’s is about what’s happened to it in very recent times.

There were two main reasons why I wanted to go to Houghton now. One was to see the Hirst and the other was to see the garden created in memory of the marquess’s grandmother Sybil Sassoon.

One was worth every penny of the £18 admission charge. The other wasn’t.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bannerman, Catherine the Great, conservatory, Damien Hirst, Deer Park, fountain, herbaceous border, Horace Walpole, Houghton, kitchen garden, land art, Land sculpture, obelisk, Sassoon, sculpture, temple, Walpole, wilderness | 4 Comments

Houghton

Posted on 23/06/2018 by The Garden History Blog

The East Front of Houghton
from https://www.lucyloveheart.com

I visited Houghton recently. It’s a vast early 18thc landscape park in rural west Norfolk surrounding a Grade 1 listed Palladian house built for Sir Robert Walpole, who was effectively Britain’s first Prime Minister. I’ve wanted to go there for a long time but a new temporary exhibition there finally convinced me to go now as a birthday treat.

Houghton Hall is the home of the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, the hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain of England and his family, but he doesn’t appear to be as traditional as his titles might suggest, and is developing Houghton into a lively centre for the contemporary arts, while maintaining and enhancing its extraordinary heritage including its gardens and parkland.