Of Rhubarb and Roses: The Telegraph Book of the Garden

by Tim Richardson (Editor)

Overview

The Telegraph has long enjoyed the closest association with gardeners. Indeed, as the newspaper of choice for the counties and the shires, it revels in the glory and variety of Britain’s horticultural heritage, whether celebrating the most renowned gardens, like Great Dixter, or extolling the tart virtues of rhubarb.

For gardening spans a vast spectrum. Variously hobby, art form, industry and, on occasion, cause of social unrest, it encompasses the annual spectacle of the Chelsea Flower Show, Vita Sackville-West’s legendary White Garden at Sissinghurst, and the pursuit of prize-winning pumpkins. And while the Telegraph’s weekend supplements might publish advice on growing asparagus or figs, the letters pages bristle with feuds and controversies at the RHS. 

Whatever form it takes, few things could be more central to the world of the Telegraph reader than the garden. Which is why the paper has always attracted the best writers on the subject: from the experts of today, such as Stephen Lacey, Mary Keen, Sarah Raven and Bunny Guinness, through great sages of yesteryear, like Fred Whitsey, Denis Wood and Rosemary Verey, to the more esoteric musings of Germaine Greer, Roy Strong and W. F. Deedes. All are collected here in this compendious and endlessly fascinating anthology, compiled by eminent green-fingered scribe Tim Richardson.

As varied and colourful as a traditional herbaceous border at the height of summer, Of Rhubarb and Roses is the perfect book for an afternoon’s reading in a deckchair, as the shadows lengthen across that newly mown lawn.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781311455
Publisher:	Aurum Press
Publication date:	10/17/2013
Series:	Telegraph Books
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Tim Richardson is a writer who specializes in garden and landscape design and history. He has been gardens editor at Country Life, and landscape editor at Wallpaper* magazine, and was founding editor of both the award-winning gardens magazine New Eden and Country Life Gardens. He now contributes mostly to the Daily Telegraph, House and Garden, Gardens Illustrated and Country Life. He is the author of Phaidon's The Garden Book, Vanguard Landscapes Gardens of Martha Schwartz, English Gardens of the 20th Century and Arcadian Friends: the Makers of the English Landscape Garden. He is also editor of Vista: the Culture and Politics of Gardens (Frances Lincoln).
Tim Richardson is a writer who specializes in garden and landscape design and history. He has been gardens editor at Country Life, and landscape editor at Wallpaper* magazine, and was founding editor of both the award-winning gardens magazine New Eden and Country Life Gardens. He now contributes mostly to the Daily Telegraph, House and Garden, Gardens Illustrated and Country Life. He is also the author of The Garden Book, Vanguard Landscapes Gardens of Martha Schwartz, English Gardens of the 20th Century and Arcadian Friends: The Makers of the English Landscape Garden, and he is the editor of Vista: The Culture and Politics of Gardens.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

1 'Act rashly whenever possible': The Life of the Gardener 1

2 'Ruby-petalled flowers hang like jewels': Joy in Variety of Blossom 33

3 'The Dukes of Marlborough and Devonshire have been locked in annual combat over their white Muscat grapes': The Challenging World of Fruit 77

4 'Armed with umbrellas, large straw hats, walking sticks, cigars': Great, Good and Eccentric Gardeners 105

5 'At the least, add a few cakestands or lollipops': Hedges, Shrubs and Bushy Effusions 135

6 'A diet of roast squirrel, squirrel pie and even deep-fried squirrel': What to do about Wildlife in the Garden 155

7 'Window-box gardening was fashionable during Coronation year': Gardening in the City 11

8 'These plants present an aspect so fantastic and so bizarre that one's thoughts are carried away': Plants and Gardens in Faraway Places 197

9 'When poking stems into the globe, always aim for the centre of the sphere': Houseplants: The Mysteries of Flower Arranging Divulged 229

10 'It was like a galleon under siege': Where Trees Stand in the Garden 245

11 'You do not expect to find innocence by the end of summer': Weeds and Their Unexpected Qualities 269

12 'An invitation to find the secrets beyond': Space and Grace in the Garden 287

13 'The extent of the crisis': Drought, Snow and Other Extremes of Weather 313

14 'The blade should be thrust into the soil vertically so that the shaft tilts forward': Digging, Pruning, Mulching and Other Jobs of Work 327

15 'There are at least four wrong ways to grow daffodils': The Discreet Charm of the Bulbs and Alpines 355

16 'One pea that is used in our house for special occasions only…': Cultivating a Connoisseurial Attitude Towards Vegetables 371

17 'All now rather wild, but you could make it lovely': Some Notable Gardens Described 407

18 'Winter colour is nature's most sophisticated palette': (Discuss) 435

Editorial Reviews

'This selection of Telegraph garden writing deftly covers both the rose bed and the compost heap'

‘An assorted box of chocolates. I happily skipped between essays by the likes of Vita Sackville-West, Germaine Greer and Sir Roy Strong, greedily consuming one after the other in quick succession. For those with more restraint, this is a book that promises many hours of savoured delights.’

'A thrilling collection of humorous and well-informed horticultural musings. '

'A thrilling collection of humorous and well-informed horticultural musings. '

'Entertaining and instructive.'

'Those who love their armchair gardening will love Tim Richardson's anthology of garden writing.'

'The perfect gift for any nostalgic gardener.'

‘An assorted box of chocolates. I happily skipped between essays by the likes of Vita Sackville-West, Germaine Greer and Sir Roy Strong, greedily consuming one after the other in quick succession. For those with more restraint, this is a book that promises many hours of savoured delights.’

'This selection of Telegraph garden writing deftly covers both the rose bed and the compost heap'

From the Publisher