British Gardening History

First published in 1956, and written by Sir Sacheverell Sitwell, 6th baronet (1897-1988, brother of the eccentric Dame Edith), this remains an excellent bibliographical record of two centuries of finely-illustrated flower books from around the world.

I believe cooking apples, but the jury is out

'October' from Eliot Hodgkin's 'The Months', 1951. Cooking apples take centre stage, flanked by grapes, fungi and the first celery and Brussels sprouts. There's a button chrysanthemum, fluffy Old Man's Beard, a shiny conker and a reddening leaf of Virginia Creeper.

'The Garden', Charles Mahoney, 1950

Tea in the garden for an unknown Edwardian family.

'Yellow Ox-eye daisies', Charles Mahoney (1903-1968), Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Mahoney painted this post-war study of telekia speciosa at his garden in Wrotham, Kent, where he had constructed his studio from munition packing cases.

Thank you for your kind words.

September from The Months, Eliot Hodgkin, 1950. A soft orange dahlia takes centrepiece, alongside the first sweetcorn cob and first of the autumn apples. There are delicate trails of Virginia creeper and blackberries, and a sprinkling of mushrooms and nuts.

Joseph & Florence Pemberton and their roses At one of our open garden days recently visitors were admiring a group of “Buff Beauty” roses which, despite the scorching heat and  weeks of drought, still managed to show a few flower…

A very interesting new article on Joseph and Florence Pemberton and their rose introductions (Buff Beauty probably being the most famous) on The Garden History blog. thegardenhistory.blog/2025/08/30/j...

All I can discover about this painting of terraced back gardens is that the artist is an E N Thurston and that it is 'vintage'. Does anyone know more?

Very true

The consensus over on Twitter is that this is indeed Herbert and Edith Bryant!

Of course, but where plots are given up, for example by elderly people who have been struggling to keep them in good order, many Councils now lack the funds to clear and rotavate them as they used to ready for new tenants. This is a way in which some sites gradually fall into disrepair.

I agree with your second paragraph, but to claim that allotments are not under threat suggests to me that you're not an allotment holder and this is an area about which you have limited knowledge. Increased funding is (understandably, given other pressures) not filtering down to allotments!!

Wonderful to be able to put potential names to them!

Postcard of an impressively dressed Edwardian couple on their allotment, 1905. Annotated 78 Cornwall Road, Kettering - probably their home address.

Thank you!

Similar in the towns and villages near me!

They really are! I wonder if they've never caught on in the US because (outside the major cities) land is so much more readily available and affordable than here.

On what are you basing your assertion that they're not under threat? They certainly are in places in my area (East Midlands). Some sites have fallen into serious disrepair because of impoverished councils being unable to afford the upkeep, but nationally demand is at a record high.

YouTube video by BBC Archive 1973: The Finest ALLOTMENTS In Britain? | Nationwide | Voice of the People | BBC Archive

With allotments under new threat, enjoy this short BBC film from 1971. Allotments aren't just about produce, they're also about community ...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wci...

I don't know much of his work, and definitely need to explore more of it.

'Miss Edith Inspects the Sweetpea', by London artist Charles Mahoney, c.1934. The artwork depicts Mahoney's landlady overseeing work in her garden, and the painting was a significant contribution to the artist's 1976 posthumous exhibition.

Certainly reminds me of 70s floral wallpaper.

August from Eliot Hodgkin's 'The Months', 1950. The colours are warm and rich - vibrant zinnias, cuckoo pint berries, the rust of a sorrel flower, the first pear, apricot and mushrooms of the year, and, by contrast, a cluster of snowberries and a pale ear of wheat.

So true

So many aspects of the centuries old rural calendar gone within our lifetime ... hard to imagine how things will be looking in another decade

Very possibly. The source was a local FB group.

Hop picking in Yalding, Kent, 1944. Londoners from the East End joined locals for several weeks each summer, staying in tin huts with straw mattresses and cooking on camp-fires. Despite the hard work, it is remembered with fondness by many London children.

Nectarines were a surprisingly popular fruit among Victorian gardeners, who generally had to grow them under glass. 'Victoria' was most probably introduced by Rivers Nursery of Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire in the 1840s to mark the new Queen's accession.