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Signed Gardening Books

Paul NPaul N Posts: 303
in The potting shed
We've recently moved house (or 'relocated' as the Americans would have it) and one of the most difficult tasks apart from a big workshop and three motorbikes, was my study and it's hundreds of books. With my homemade shelving, I've been sorting through the books and trying to re-arrange them in some semblance of order. I have between 50 and 60 gardening books and amongst them quite a few signed by their authors. Monty Don, Tom Hart Dyke, Arthur Billett, Percy Thrower, Stephen Scanniello, Jack Harkness, Geoff Hamilton, Roger Phillips and Rosemary Verey, but possibly my favourite one was signed by Gertrude Jekyll in 1911, 107 years ago. There's something quite special about handling a book which was once handled by these famous gardeners.

Posts

  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    A fine collection, so interesting to have these.. the mention of Stephen Scanniello suggests you are into roses very much... have you heard of Dr Liz Perks?  she has The Rosarian Library... I think she has collected quite a range specific only to roses in the English language..
    Should you ever want to do some research here is her link..
    http://www.therosarianlibrary.co.uk/about/4592993885
    East Anglia, England
  • Paul NPaul N Posts: 303
    Thank you Marlorena, and no, I hadn't heard of Dr Liz Perks. Yes, In our last garden (1/4 acre) I had about 80 roses but now we've down-sized, our present garden is tiny in comparison. I did bring about a dozen with me but am scratching my head as to where they might go. Deeper borders are needed. Looking on the good side, our old garden had bindweed and Ground Elder which I never ever, not in 24yrs, managed to eradicate.

    My rose collection was often based on quite pointless aims. I often collects roses with the same names as family members, grandchildren and the like - 'Edward's Rose', 'Lucy', 'Polly', 'Heather Austin', Paul's Scarlet Climber', Freddie Mercury', as well as some quite rare but always strongly scented roses too. 'Bobby James', 'Kiftsgate' and 'Rambling Rector' were all stunners too. The problem with choosing roses with family names is that sometimes (usually) they were not good 'doers'. 'Lucy' died on me and 'Polly' always struggled. I did get an American friend to send me two tiny examples of 'Polly Sunshine' patio roses through the post and whilst these were gorgeous, they failed to last our winter even in an unheated greenhouse.

    No, now I must content myself to being content with a much smaller collection and admiring my inherited Acers and Magnolias in our neutral soil. The existing 'Climbing Iceberg' is a joy to see too!
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    Hi Paul... thanks for your reply... I think as we get older we consider downsizing our rose collection... I keep trying to do that but fail... as every year I buy more new ones.. it's a compulsion for some of us... I now have some in pots which is a good way to manage the overflow... otherwise it's a case of one out before another one goes in..

    I couldn't cope with some of those ramblers you've had in the past, so I am content to see them in other gardens...  I'm sorry about your little polyantha 'Polly Sunshine'... I suppose it wanted the California climate.. 

    I'm quite fussy about rose names, and some of the anniversary ones put me right off... I quite like quirky names though...

    I have a couple of books from the 19thC but nothing to do with gardening..  you must cherish those you have, to think that Jekyll and others were holding them too...

    Enjoy your new garden... somewhere sheltered by the sound of things... I'm quite exposed where I am in East Anglia, and the wind can do great damage here to my garden in summer, when it's all in full flush..  best wishes..
    East Anglia, England
  • Paul NPaul N Posts: 303
    Hi Marlorena
    The giant ramblers, and they were pretty massive, were really easy to look after. 'Bobby James' climbed about 30ft up through a White Willow tree. It's problem was that it's white flowers were right at the top and against a pale sky were difficult to see. 'Kiftsgate', the UK's largest rambler, I grew to cover the pitched roof of my large timber workshop. Beautiful when viewed from an upstairs window (and chopped down by our buyers. 'Rambling Rector' bloomed it's heart out this summer as she clambered into a large conifer. I don't believe our buyers will care for the plants as we did but we did get 24yrs of pleasure from the garden.

    We're down in Kent. Formally on the chalky North Downs, 365ft above sea level, we've now moved a few miles away, 167ft above sea level, and to a garden with neutral soil. The camelia and acer which I grew in large tubs hopefully now love spreading their roots in the fertile, weed-free soil and the 7ft white lilac shouldn't mind either. ;-)

  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    Yes I can understand what you mean about the Bobby James rambler.. I grew Pauls Himalayan Musk up a willow and it stood out more, but like they say, a garden only lasts as long as its owner, and this is why I don't get sentimental over plants, because the next one in will get rid of all you have.. that's usually the case...

    I do that too, although I have one Azalea from the previous owner's plantings..

    Neutral soil gives you some great scope for pretty much whatever you like... and Kent is the Garden of England... well, in some places...  I used to live in north Kent too...near Lullingstone, which I think I'm right in saying, is closely connected with Mr Tom Hart-Dyke, the author of one of your books...  I think he's made some money from his jungle exploits, much recorded.. 
    East Anglia, England
  • Paul NPaul N Posts: 303
    Lullingstone. Yes, it's quite a beautiful garden and Tom is a lovely, bubbly chap whose initial stammer has disappeared as he's gained in confidence with TV appearances and meeting the general public. In 2006 I was on a three month US Coast-to-Coast motorcycle trip and when in Tucson AZ I was given a number of seeds, one of which was a Creosote bush, and which on return, I sowed some and gave the remainder to Tom. Neither of us had any success in germinating them. There were a couple of excellent TV documentaries about the creation of the garden from a rundown, bramble infested walled garden (he got some pigs in to clear the land) to the living museum which it now is. He did everything on a shoestring although some people's shoestrings are richer than others. ;-)

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