Last week I wrote the background story of the Royal Horticultural Society’s magnificent but short-lived gardens in South Kensington, and today I want to follow up with an account of the gardens themselves designed by William Andrews Nesfield.
When I sat down to write this I wasn’t sure where to start or how to go about describing such an enormous space that was at once doubly simple and complex. Simple in that the overall design is visible almost in a glance, but complex in that each section is very elaborate in detail, and while simple in terms of planting it is complex in its overall content.
Some flowers – like tulips, peonies or roses – are important or famous enough to have their stories told in books that make the best seller list. But while some others have champions who’ve written about them, or are the subject of serious monographs there are some other well-known flowers that don’t seem to have attracted that much attention. One of them is that stalwart of the cottage garden the hollyhock.
