Monthly Archives: July 2015

Moving the ‘bastard’ orange trees …

Posted on 25/07/2015 by The Gardens Trust

And no I’m not being rude just for the sake of it! As I said in a recent post I’ve been doing some research over the past few years into the gardening interests of the Hatton family  who were prominent royalists … Continue reading →

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Guano…

Posted on 18/07/2015 by The Gardens Trust

It’s hard to imagine the British Government getting excited about bird droppings. But in mid-19thc Britain it certainly did.  Of course ministers didn’t sit around discussing anything quite so vulgar as  bird poo but they did spend time talking seriously about  ways of increasing … Continue reading →

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Night Soil and other euphemisms…

Posted on 11/07/2015 by The Gardens Trust

We generally  think of the Victorians as very proper and respectable,  when even the  the legs of the piano were covered up,  and no risqué or unpleasant subjects were ever raised in polite society. So  it was a bit of a shock to … Continue reading →

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Harry Wheatcroft : the red rose grower

Posted on 04/07/2015 by The Gardens Trust

My father was very fond of roses and so I well remember the  flamboyant whiskery figure of Harry Wheatcroft from my childhood. He was everywhere in the press, radio and television, selling and promoting roses, especially new colourful hybrid tea cultivars, … Continue reading →

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