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British Gardening History

@britgardhistory.bsky.social

2.1K followers 560 following 210 posts

I'm Karen Meadows, a garden history writer living in the heart of England. Publishing 'The Lost Apples of Stamford - a Detective Story' 2026.

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Nov 16

Meet gorgeous Lady Lennox - believed lost for 110 years and now confirmed found by the Fruit ID committee. Local pomologist Denis Smith discovered it growing at Burghley House and I slowly managed to unravel its provenance. Thrilled our submission was successful.

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · 1d

Golden Crab Apples, Eliot Hodgkin, 1957, private collection.

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · 3d

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.

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · 3d

I believe cooking apples, but the jury is out

British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · 8d

'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.

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · 16d

'The Garden', Charles Mahoney, 1950

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · 21d

Tea in the garden for an unknown Edwardian family.

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · 24d

'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.

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · 24d

Thank you for your kind words.

British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Sep 1

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.

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 30

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...

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…

thegardenhistory.blog

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 26

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?

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 23

Very true

British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 20

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

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 20

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.

British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 20

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!!

British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 20

Wonderful to be able to put potential names to them!

British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 20

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

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 20

Thank you!

British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 20

Similar in the towns and villages near me!

British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 20

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.

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 20

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.

British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 14

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...

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

YouTube video by BBC Archive

www.youtube.com

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 14

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

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 8

'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.

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British Gardening History @britgardhistory.bsky.social · Aug 8

Certainly reminds me of 70s floral wallpaper.