Monthly Archives: November 2014

The Vicar and Gladi-mania…

Posted on 29/11/2014 by The Gardens Trust

Despite what you might think, it wasn’t Dame Edna Everage who was first to shout about the glories of the gladi, but a medal-winning vicar from Kent with a dry sense of humour, who rejoiced in the name of Henry Honeywood D’Ombrain… and I … Continue reading →

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“What God would have built if he had the money…”

Posted on 22/11/2014 by The Gardens Trust

“What God would have built if he had the money…” is what  George Bernard Shaw is supposed to have said on visiting William Randolph Hearst at St Donat’s Castle in South Wales.  It’s not surprising that Shaw was impressed!   St Donat’s  is a … Continue reading →

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Dead Dogs….

Posted on 15/11/2014 by The Gardens Trust

Hows that for a cheery topic?   It’s the 200th anniversary next week of the death of a dog. Admittedly not just any old dog but one called Boatswain, a much-loved Newfoundland dog  that belonged to Lord Byron. So besotted was … Continue reading →

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Beatrice Parsons : Queen of the blazing border….

Posted on 08/11/2014 by The Gardens Trust

Go on admit it…you’ve never heard of Beatrice Parsons.  But believe it or not a century ago she was one of the leading garden painters in Britain, with many exhibitions to her credit, and her pictures collected by fashionable society, including … Continue reading →

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More heraldic beasts…

Posted on 01/11/2014 by The Gardens Trust

As I said at the end of my last post sets of heraldic beasts became rarer in Elizabethan times, as imagery became much more focussed on the queen herself. however there was a revival of interest in the early 19th century, and again … Continue reading →

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