For gardening books, I enjoyed Virginia Woolf's Garden: The Story of the Garden at Monk's House, by Caroline Zoob.
I’m also waiting for my library copy of The Rural Hours by Harriet Baker, and if you don’t know about it already, Granta just published a lovely extract here: https://granta.com/rural-hours/
You've just reminded me of Caroline Zoob's book, and now it's firmly in my "books wanted" notebook. I didn't know about The Rural Hours, so will investigate that.
I loved reading this Deborah, thank you so much! I really love her work and can't believe I'd not heard of her until your previous post.
I went to Kew Gardens this morning to see signs of Spring, and its a bit of a mixture there with some daffodils out and others yet to emerge. One magnolia tree was in full bloom with others next to it completely bare. I also saw the wild garlic though not much of it at all compared to last year at this time, so I wonder if I'm too early or if it's the recent cold snaps we've had in London? I picked a few leaves to make some cheese and wild garlic scones today.
I don't have a proper garden but a a patch of earth and another growing space that I fill with large pots, and its ridiculous what I try to fit in it! This year I want to add lots of salvia amistads with white rose campions as I visited the most beautiful rooftop garden in London last year and they had this beautiful blue and white combination in pots that was stunning. I've also bought Cobea and Ipomoea seeds to try grow upwards due to lack of space. I'm hoping for lots of blues this year! x
I would love to visit Kew again and wish I were nearer! I think the sudden cold days have stopped everything in its tracks, but it does mean that the daffodils will last a little longer!
My tiny Magnolia, planted for Lennie, has just come into bud and it does seem a little later this year.
The blue salvia and white campion sounds so lovely, and with the cobea and Ipomoea reaching upwards, it should look heavenly. I used to love looking at the open gardens when I lived in London, there were such inventive small spaces. And I miss Columbia Road too!
Thank you for reading it, I am so pleased you liked her drawings.
Loved this, and have enjoyed thinking about favourite garden books! Olivia Laing's Garden Against Time was a definite highlight of last year's reading, and I'm also very fond of Katherine Swift's Morville Hours and Morville Year. Another garden book with lovely drawings is Karel and Josef Čapek's Gardener's Year.
Thank you very much, I am pleased you liked it. I have yet to read the Olivia Laing, but have loved her other books, so I am sure I will like it too. I loved the Morville books too, they are so beautifully written and would have loved to have walked around her garden. And I had totally forgotten their "Gardener's Year", for some reason, I haven't yet read it, but will dust it off!
This is wonderful Deborah. I read every word and shot off to Persephone Books immediately. Thinking about it Persephone the goddess is very timely isn't she? Anyway thanks for this great contribution to Substack's celebration of spring. Loved it.
Thank you very much, Liz, you have made my day! It is a beautiful book and their drawings are exquisite. She followed it with "A Gardener's Diary", which was just her own work and wish that could be republished too. Edward Bawden's version has been, and I loved that, but hers would be lovely to see in its entirety!
Lovely article , I hadn’t come across your work before but I shall look forward to reading more as I love my garden & wish I could draw well enough to draw such beauty. I love Persephone books too so shall order the book at once. Many thanks 🌷
Thank you very much, Wendy, I am so glad you liked it and it is lovely to have you here! I am pleased that Persephone reissued it as they made such a beautiful edition. The drawings are exquisite.
Thank you so much for these posts, Deborah. They are such a welcome pause in the busyness of my week. Enjoy your Spring gardening. Here in the Southern hemisphere, we are heading towards winter, a time I look forward to after the heat and dryness of our summers.
I love looking at her drawings! The amount of detailed drawings she’s put around her words to Charles, so very beautiful! I love your fritillary painting too.
Thank you, Anne. Do you know the book? I found the plant choices so interesting. The one plant that she made sure stayed with her from garden to garden was Macleaya cordata and there is a lovely sketch of her reaching up trying to stake it. I now want to have it here too.
I am always fascinated to read your posts and your recommendations. Persephone Books will be where I will be heading next! It is sad that she died so young, however good that her work was discovered by the Antique Roadshow’s serendipitous moment. Another Cedric Morris connection.
What a lovely piece. I’ve been late in commenting because I wanted to reread, and especially to look again at the images, including yours.
I was recently told that one traditionally wants the first butterfly of the season one sees to be light-colored. I don’t know why that’s so, but this yellow one seems like a wonderful start to the spring. (I haven’t seen a light-colored one yet myself, but your painting came before any at all appeared in the garden here, so perhaps it counts!)
All of this is so much encouragement to think about gardens, and seedlings especially 🌱
I think it definitely counts! Since writing it the weather here has reverted to very chilly but it set to go hotter than Spain on Thursday - all very topsy turvy. Thank you very much for reading it and hope that all is well with you x
Lovely article!
For gardening books, I enjoyed Virginia Woolf's Garden: The Story of the Garden at Monk's House, by Caroline Zoob.
I’m also waiting for my library copy of The Rural Hours by Harriet Baker, and if you don’t know about it already, Granta just published a lovely extract here: https://granta.com/rural-hours/
Thank you very much! I visited Monk's House several years ago. and loved it. I am sure I would love the book too.
I received "The Rural Hours" for Christmas, but haven't yet read it, but I am so looking forward to it - thank you for the link and the prompt!
I visited Monks House and Charleston last summer, and they both had wonderful gardens (not to mention interiors). Happy reading!
You've just reminded me of Caroline Zoob's book, and now it's firmly in my "books wanted" notebook. I didn't know about The Rural Hours, so will investigate that.
Happy reading! Also, if you don’t already know about it, you might like the Beyond Bloomsbury substack: https://beyondbloomsbury.substack.com/
Yes, it's wonderful! I'm a subscriber.
Me too!
I loved reading this Deborah, thank you so much! I really love her work and can't believe I'd not heard of her until your previous post.
I went to Kew Gardens this morning to see signs of Spring, and its a bit of a mixture there with some daffodils out and others yet to emerge. One magnolia tree was in full bloom with others next to it completely bare. I also saw the wild garlic though not much of it at all compared to last year at this time, so I wonder if I'm too early or if it's the recent cold snaps we've had in London? I picked a few leaves to make some cheese and wild garlic scones today.
I don't have a proper garden but a a patch of earth and another growing space that I fill with large pots, and its ridiculous what I try to fit in it! This year I want to add lots of salvia amistads with white rose campions as I visited the most beautiful rooftop garden in London last year and they had this beautiful blue and white combination in pots that was stunning. I've also bought Cobea and Ipomoea seeds to try grow upwards due to lack of space. I'm hoping for lots of blues this year! x
I would love to visit Kew again and wish I were nearer! I think the sudden cold days have stopped everything in its tracks, but it does mean that the daffodils will last a little longer!
My tiny Magnolia, planted for Lennie, has just come into bud and it does seem a little later this year.
The blue salvia and white campion sounds so lovely, and with the cobea and Ipomoea reaching upwards, it should look heavenly. I used to love looking at the open gardens when I lived in London, there were such inventive small spaces. And I miss Columbia Road too!
Thank you for reading it, I am so pleased you liked her drawings.
Wonderful pen ilustrations
They are beautiful, aren't they?
Loved this, and have enjoyed thinking about favourite garden books! Olivia Laing's Garden Against Time was a definite highlight of last year's reading, and I'm also very fond of Katherine Swift's Morville Hours and Morville Year. Another garden book with lovely drawings is Karel and Josef Čapek's Gardener's Year.
These were the two books I would have recommended too! I live not far from Morville, which sadly is no longer open to the public
Thank you very much, I am pleased you liked it. I have yet to read the Olivia Laing, but have loved her other books, so I am sure I will like it too. I loved the Morville books too, they are so beautifully written and would have loved to have walked around her garden. And I had totally forgotten their "Gardener's Year", for some reason, I haven't yet read it, but will dust it off!
This is wonderful Deborah. I read every word and shot off to Persephone Books immediately. Thinking about it Persephone the goddess is very timely isn't she? Anyway thanks for this great contribution to Substack's celebration of spring. Loved it.
Thank you very much, Liz, you have made my day! It is a beautiful book and their drawings are exquisite. She followed it with "A Gardener's Diary", which was just her own work and wish that could be republished too. Edward Bawden's version has been, and I loved that, but hers would be lovely to see in its entirety!
I have Edward Bawden's gardener's diary. It always makes me feel very "behindhand" with what I should be doing at any time in the gardening year!
I try not to look at that! I am trying very hard this year to keep on top of things, but doubt it will last!
Lovely article , I hadn’t come across your work before but I shall look forward to reading more as I love my garden & wish I could draw well enough to draw such beauty. I love Persephone books too so shall order the book at once. Many thanks 🌷
Thank you very much, Wendy, I am so glad you liked it and it is lovely to have you here! I am pleased that Persephone reissued it as they made such a beautiful edition. The drawings are exquisite.
Thank you so much for these posts, Deborah. They are such a welcome pause in the busyness of my week. Enjoy your Spring gardening. Here in the Southern hemisphere, we are heading towards winter, a time I look forward to after the heat and dryness of our summers.
I love looking at her drawings! The amount of detailed drawings she’s put around her words to Charles, so very beautiful! I love your fritillary painting too.
The hours she must have spent on them…and they are so beautifully composed too. Thank you, Jess, I am glad you liked it.
I thought that too, the time and care taken. It's very inspiring, loved this.💖
Thank you for a wonderful read and the book recommendations.
I really enjoyed reading this Deborah, thank you! I would be so delighted to receive such beautifully illustrated letters, what a treasure to keep.
Aren't they beautiful? They must have taken hours to create and how lovely that he kept them. Thank you very much for reading it.
'He was doubtful but could she perhaps produce something “really new on gardening”?'
As rare then as now, it seems?
Loved this. Poignant.
Thank you, Anne. Do you know the book? I found the plant choices so interesting. The one plant that she made sure stayed with her from garden to garden was Macleaya cordata and there is a lovely sketch of her reaching up trying to stake it. I now want to have it here too.
I didn’t know the book or any of her story. I do seem to have bought the book today, thanks to you!
Though that’s a plant I couldn’t grow….
I must admit my last attempt did die in me! I hope you enjoy the book ( I feel rather responsible now!)
I’d better then! I know where you Substack…..
I am always fascinated to read your posts and your recommendations. Persephone Books will be where I will be heading next! It is sad that she died so young, however good that her work was discovered by the Antique Roadshow’s serendipitous moment. Another Cedric Morris connection.
It is a gem of a book! She was a great loss and I am so glad that she is now receiving the attention she deserves. Thank you very much for reading it.
What a delicious post! Thank you
Thank you very much, Miranda!
Wonderful words and images, Deborah. Thank you, again.
Thank you, Mike, that is so kind of you.
What a lovely piece. I’ve been late in commenting because I wanted to reread, and especially to look again at the images, including yours.
I was recently told that one traditionally wants the first butterfly of the season one sees to be light-colored. I don’t know why that’s so, but this yellow one seems like a wonderful start to the spring. (I haven’t seen a light-colored one yet myself, but your painting came before any at all appeared in the garden here, so perhaps it counts!)
All of this is so much encouragement to think about gardens, and seedlings especially 🌱
I think it definitely counts! Since writing it the weather here has reverted to very chilly but it set to go hotter than Spain on Thursday - all very topsy turvy. Thank you very much for reading it and hope that all is well with you x
Thank you!! This means a lot.
What a treat - both your art and Evelyn's. And how interesting to know more about her.
Thank you. I love painting spring flowers, and fritillaries in particular, they are so extraordinary.