BY the time of her death, aged 89, in December 1932, Gertrude Jekyll had designed at least 400 gardens. Her publications included 12 best-selling books on gardening and over 1,138 articles. Every year for the past three decades, she had sold thousands of plants raised in the nursery that she established at Munstead Wood, her home and garden near Godalming in Surrey. Many were specialties that she had collected, bred or selected, among them such future classics as Lavandula angustifolia ‘Munstead’ and Vinca minor ‘Gertrude Jekyll’.
In addition to these achievements, there were the arts and crafts that had chiefly occupied her up until her forties — painting, embroidery, interior design, metalworking, and carving. The painter George Leslie remarked, “There is hardly any useful handicraft the mysteries of which she has not mastered”. Other artists who had admired her talents and tenacity included John Ruskin, William Morris, Lord Frederic Leighton and Edward Burne-Jones.
Mangle’s tea party
Asked how she managed to achieve so much, Miss Jekyll’s reply was characteristically brusque and quickwitted: “By not going to tea parties.” She made rare exceptions to this rule, however – and one of them, in May 1889 when she was 45, changed her life.
Esta historia es de la edición May 30, 2020 de Amateur Gardening.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición May 30, 2020 de Amateur Gardening.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
To dig or not to dig?
Should we be carrying out a full dig on plots now? Bob considers the pros and cons of the 'autumn dig' debate
The box ball blues
As if his beleaguered box hadn't already taken a beating, Toby now has to deal with some hungry box caterpillars
Save your own seeds
Masterclass on: seed saving
Strange sightings
Three unusual insects turn up in Val's garden in one day
A bolt from the blue!
Cornflowers are perfect for garden and vase
Winter moth prevention
Ruth shows you how to avoid maggoty tree fruits
Create a winter container
There are as many options as in summer
Lightweight gardening tools
AS well as being good for our mental health, gardening is also great exercise.
Autumn price round-up
AG finds better bargains in lesser-known brands
Rudbeckias
Rudbeckias are ideal for sunny summer patios and borders, with some able to survive our coldest winters