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To my husband, Charles Raskob Robinson, my partner in our garden, and to our sons, Charles and Torrance, who as young boys both worked so hard in it.
First published in 2012 by
DAVID R. GODINE · Publisher Post Office Box 450 Jaffrey, New Hampshire 03452 www.godine.com
Copyright © 2012 by Barbara Paul Robinson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief extracts embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information contact Permissions, David R. Godine, Publisher, Fifteen Court Square, Suite 320, Boston Massachusetts 02108.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Robinson, Barbara Paul.
Rosemary Verey : the life & lessons of a
legendary gardener / by Barbara Paul Robinson.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-56792-450-3 – ISBN 1-56792-450-6
1. Verey, Rosemary. 2. Gardeners—England—Biography.
3. Gardens—Design. I. Title.
SB63.V37R63 2012
635.092´241–dc23
2011053541
HARDCOVER ISBN: 978-1-56792-450-3
EBOOK ISBN: 978-1-56792-486-2
CONTENTS
Introduction Rosemary Verey: My Boss, My Mentor, My Friend
Chapter 1 Early Years and Marriage: 1918–1939
Chapter 2 Family Life and a Shattering Accident: 1939–1953
Chapter 3 Creating the Garden: 1960s
Chapter 4 Sharpening Her Art: 1970s
Chapter 5 The Books Begin: Early 1980s
Chapter 6 David’s Death; Garden Design Work Begins: Early 1980s
Chapter 7 After David’s Death: Mid-1980s
Chapter 8 Leaving Barnsley House; Prince Charles Arrives: Late 1980s
Chapter 9 Elton John, The King of Rock: Early 1990s
Chapter 10 Love Affair with America: 1990s
Chapter 11 Garden Styles Move On: Late 1990s
Chapter 12 The Last Few Years: 1998–2000
Chapter 13 The Final Garden: 2001
With permission of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales reprinted from “Remembrances of Rosemary,” a privately issued booklet compiled by Katherine Lambert, April 25, 2004.
INTRODUCTION
Rosemary Verey
My Boss, My Mentor, My Friend
ROSEMARY VEREY was my boss, and later she became my teacher, my mentor, and my special friend. My husband, Charlie, will tell you that she changed my life. I went to work for her in her famous garden at Barnsley House, in Gloucestershire, England, in the spring of 1991 when she was seventy-two years old and at the height of her powers. She came to gardening late in her life, a self-taught amateur who became internationally renowned as a garden designer, plantswoman, and writer. By the time I met her she was the “must have” garden designer for the rich and famous, not only in England, but around the world. Her clients included Prince Charles and Elton John. Even the Japanese, with their distinct gardening aesthetic, enlisted her to design an English-style garden for the Hankyu Department Store in Osaka. Her own beautiful garden, Barnsley, in the heart of the Cotswolds, was a mandatory stop on every garden tourist’s itinerary. More than 30,000 visitors per year came by the busloads from as far away as Japan and Australia. She was particularly popular in America where an interest in gardening was burgeoning. Appreciative audiences flocked to her lectures, and her eighteen books were best-sellers, especially in the States.
The moment was right for Rosemary to revive the English romantic style after decades of deprivation following the two world wars. Economic hardship and lack of skilled gardening labor led to what some would describe as the nadir of British gardening, with its emphasis on low maintenance ground covers. Instead, using her garden as her classroom, she re-introduced classical garden designs, favoring formal structures, planting knot gardens and using hedges and box balls. Being a superb plantswoman, she embellished formal outlines with exuberant flower borders maintained to perfection, creating beautiful pictures by using harmonious color combinations and a mix of textures. Her famous potager was based on the grand gardens at Villandry, France, but she scaled the ideas down to a smaller, workable scale. She broke new ground in England and America by mixing flowers and vegetables together, planted in complex patterns intended to be both productive and visually appealing.
She was at heart a teacher and an effective communicator, sharing her enthusiasm and the knowledge she had gained from hands-on experience in creating her own garden at Barnsley. Always learning herself, she was open to new ideas and enjoyed her interactions with people. Her writing and her lectures were more like conversations than sermons. She believed any garden should relate well to the house and its environs, a lesson that now seems obvious but had been forgotten. And because Barnsley itself was relatively small, less than four acres, she made beautiful gardens seem possible to the average homeowner. Her message was that you, too, could do this if you tried.
How did this English lady gardener become such a horticultural icon? And what was it that made her particularly successful in America? Although I came to know her very well, I wanted to better understand how she had managed to become world famous when it seemed much more likely that she would live out her life much like countless English country ladies