Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 H I STORY rc f»i I Garden History W * • • «r A i 4 I t 4 4.f t-t fV/* t* l..|_ Qime . ]Ii^^ !■ J'- '^ ' -■ GUEST EDITORIAL CHAIRMAN Margaret Darling TREASURER Robin Lewarne SECRETARY Lester Tropman EXECUTIVE OFFICER Jackie Courmadias AGHS Office, Astronomers Residence Royal Botanic Gardens, Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra, \'ic 3141 Ph/Fax(03)9650 5043 Toll Free 1800 67 8446 EDITOR Trisha Dixon Bobundara, Cooma, NSW 2630 Ph (064) 53 5578, Fax (064) 53 5557 DESIGN Icon Art (03) 9428 9212 PRINTED by SAS Printing, Melbourne ISSN 1033-3673 BRANCHES ACT / MONARO / RIVERINA BRANCH Leslie Lockwood GPOBox 1630 Canberra, ACT 2601 Ph: (06) 258 4547 (ah) QUEENSLAND BRANCH Jan Seto P.O. Box 9024 Manly West, Q'ld 4179 Ph: (07) 3393 3354 SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BRANCH Mr Richard Nolan C/ - The Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and State Herbarium North Terrace Adelaide SA 5000 Ph:(08) 278 2993 Fax: (08) 278 2971 SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS BRANCH Mrs Elizabeth Webster Salisbury Downs Blanket Flat Bigga NSW 2583 Ph. (048) 35 2205 Fax(048) 35 2241 SYDNEY AND NORTHERN NSW BRANCH Jan Gluskic 26 Mary Street Longuevilic NSW 2066 Ph. (02) 9428 5947 Mobile 015 660 107 TASMANIAN BRANCH Mrs Fairic Nielsen Pigeon Hill, RSD 469 Burnic Tas 7320 Ph: (004) 33 0077 VICTORIAN BRANCH Ms Helen Page d - Royal Botanic Gardens Birdwood Avenue South Yarra Vic 3141 Ph/Fax: (03) 9650 5043 WEST AUSTRALIAN BRANCH Ms Anne Willox 75 Circe Circle Dalkeith WA 6009 Ph: (09) 386 8716 by TOMMY GARNETT 1 suppose there are some people who still hanker for a distinc¬ tive Australian style of garden design, just as there are some chil¬ dren who still look for pots of gold at the foot of rainbows. There is no such style, and can never be one. We have far ttto wide a variety of climates and terrain. I suppose there may even be eccentrics who put a stuffed koala up a tree, a wallaby on the lawn in place of a gnome and a china bluetongue lizard on the edge of the grass. Let us suppose that we could agree on what constitutes a garden, as something deliberately contrived by man (or more likely woman) and containing plants for use and adornment. Even to agree on that is to make an assumption. The Oldhams, in their excellent book Gardens in Time, make the point by juxtaposing photographs of the Pyramid of Gizeh and a sacred pyramidal hill in north-western Australia. Europcan-stylc gardens in Australia are reflections of their social and climatic history. The earliest settlers were concerned with growing something to eat. Gradually they experi¬ mented with exotic ornamental plants - those tough enough to have survived sea voyages, often originating from the ports of call on the way - Madeira and the Canary Isles, Brazil, South Africa, Mauritius. A print of Sydney made before 1800 shows unmistakably full- grown Norfolk Island Pines - whether by arti.stic licence I am not sure. Many of the orna¬ mental plants which survived could manage without water. It was only the rich who made large gardens - the Macarthurs at Camden Park, the Macleays at Elizabeth Bay, Walter Clark at Glenara, who followed exactly the same princi¬ ples as his friends, the Macleays. Governors took India for their model, where, in the hot weather, those who could manage it moved to the cool of the hills of Simla, where they found deodars among other trees. So came the gardens of Mount Wilson. Melbourne and Adelaide followed to Mount Macedon and Belair. As the miners from California followed the golden magnet to the newly discovered fields of Australia, they brought conifers from the west coast of America, some of which, such as Piniis radiata and Cupressus macrocarpa flourished, as imported plants often do, better than on their native Monterey Peninsula. Many of the early settlers were homesick and England was ‘home’. A well-known sentimental picture shows the arrival of the first flowering English primrose in a pot. Australian gardening has been distorted ever since by reliance on English (and later some American) books and horticultural ideas. There was also a strong German influence - Schomburgk in Adelaide. Mueller in Melbourne was a botanist, as was Allan Cunningham in Sydney, and was more interested in the country’s unique flora and in finding out ‘what would grow where’ than in design. Guilfoyle was fascinated by tbe palms he found in the Pacific Islands and round the northern rivers; but drew his design ideas from Britain. Edna Walling was English and followed the tradition of Gertrude Jekyll, with her signatures of stone walls and erigeron. One of the curious survivals from the Northern Hemisphere has been the use of Euro¬ pean and American climatic zones, which are based solely on average minimum tempera¬ tures. This is something that I myself, as an immigrant gardener have gradually come to realise. In Australia, rain (or water in some other form) is the most important factor - how much is available and when. The most benign climate for gardeners in the whole of Australia is south-east Tasmania. No wonder the TV programme Gardening Australia originates from there. Even southern Victoria is in the same northern zone as the coasts of the Mediter¬ ranean. Lack of water is one of the reasons why most Australian gardens are small by English standards. From which it follows that there are few opportunities in private gardens for pro¬ fessional gardeners who have learnt their skills from head gardeners before them. This means that most of us must be our own garden designers. We need an Osbert Lancaster who will do for us what he did in From Pillar to Post, showing us what we do. Eltham Environmental, Rose Bay Romantic, Toorak Trumpeting - I can envisage them all. Our gardens should reflect the conditions in which we choose to live and we have a vast palette of native and exotic plants to choose from. The only criteria ought to be appropriate¬ ness. That could be the ‘Australian style’. FRONT COVER A 1934 watercolour plan design of Churston in Melbourne by Edna Walling. 2 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 CONTENTS AUSTRALIAN GARDEN DESIGNERS 4 TASMANIAN LEGACY: KITTY HENRY Gay Klok unveils the life of this creative free spirit vv'ho had such an influence on Tasmanian garden style this century. 7 ‘STONINGTON’: DISCOVERING MORE ON WILLIAM SANGSTER Ashley Russell and Beryl Black record Sangster's involvement in one of Melbourne’s significant gardens. 8 BIBLIOPHILIC BANTER: JUST A PHASE John Stowar and the evolution of a gardener. 10 EMILY GIBSON: WRITER, LECTURER AND GARDEN DESIGNER John Patrick and Janet Scott relate the career of this Victorian designer. 12 CANBERRA’S HIDDEN GARDEN: FROM BARE PLAIN TO MAGNIFICENT PARK Margaret Hendry reveals the debate that went into Canberra’s original parliamentary gardens. 16 A GARDEN FULL OF PROMISE: A CONSERVATION STUDY Alissa Burch, winner of the AGHS student award, writes of the 19th century character of Lake Burley Griffin. 18 GARDENS OF THE I950’S: JOCELYN BROWN’S GARDEN BOOK Helen Proudfoot opens the pages of a garden book relating to one of the Queensland gardens to be visited during the forthcoming Conference. 20 PROFILE: LEWIS ADOLPHYS BERNAYS Jeannie Sim unfolds the life of this 19th century Queensland botanist and writer. 21 GARDEN DESIGN IN THE WEST: EDITH COLE Carolyn Middlemis recounts the influence Edna Walling had on this Western Australian designer. 22 COLONIAL PLANTS: THE GENUS BRACHYCHITON Giles Edwards encourages the use of this diverse genus in landscaping projects. 24 BOOKSHELF Trevor Nottle's latest book list. #25 DATES FOR THE DIARY 26 CALENDAR OF EVENTS 27 NATIONAL AND BRANCH NEWS 28 HISTORY IN THE MAKING: THE LADY IN WHITE Jo Reid unfolds the identity of the woman on the Australian Garden History Society brochure. CORRESPONDENCE should be addressed to the Secretary, AGHS, C/- Royal Botanic Gardens, Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra, Victoria 3141. Ph/Fax (03) 9650 5043. The Australian Garden History Society was formed in 1980 to bring together those with an interest in the various aspects of garden history - horticulture, landscape design, architecture and related subjects. Its prime concern is to promote interest and research into historic gardens as a major component of the National Estate. It aims to look at garden making in a wide historic, literary, artistic and scientific context. The editorial content of articles, or the products and services advertised in this journal, do not necessarily imply their endorsement by the Australian Garden History Society. Subscription enquiries - Toll Free 1800 67 8446. 1 year membership $38.00. CONTRIBUTORS BERYL BLACK is a Rose Consultant who has recently completed work on the 19th Century rose garden at ‘Stonington* in Mel¬ bourne and is currently undertaking research on the diaries of William Sangstcr. In 1991 she published the book John ‘Como' Brown and in 1994 a booklet of Sangster’s list of 90 roses from his 1862 diary. ALISSA BURCH completed her Bachelor of Landscape Architecture at UNSW in 1994 and now works as a practising landscape architect in Canberra. Her thesis, which won the AGHS prize, was written as a result of tracing the family tree, where she discovered diat an ancestor. Charles Throsby, was the first white explorer to the Canberra Plains. GILES EDWARDS - garden hobbyist turned landscaper with particular interest in native tropical plants. Giles works on the North Shore and Northern Beaches of Sydney and is developing his own small patch of tropical greenery on the Northern Beaches. TOMMY GARNETT has written a column for the Melbourne Age for the past 16 years and has recently moved from Garden of St Erth to start another garden at his new home in Castlemaine. MARGARET HENDRY is currently writing the story of the landscape of the Parliamentary Zone in Canberra. It is a fascinating story of the work of many distinguished Australians, who saw the need to give the Nation a land¬ scape focus. Until the mid-eighties, she was the inaugural senior lecturer in landscape architecture at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. GAY KLOK lives with her husband Kecs in Tas¬ mania. where they have two fine gardens - one in Sandy Bay. Hobart and another in Middleton on the Channel. CAROLYN MIDDLEMIS is a history student who returned to Australia in 1994 after four years In England, where she had the opportu¬ nity to visit and photograph many European gardens. She has given illustrated talks to the National Trust and AGHS and is on the com¬ mittee of the WA branch of the AGHS. TREVOR NOTTLE is the AGHS Journal regular book revie\ver. HELEN PROUDFOOT is an historian and writer with a particular interest in gardens and landscape. She has published Gardens in Bloom: Jocelyn Brown and her Sydney Cardens in I9S9 and was principal author of Australia’s First Government House. JO REID lives at Belmont, an historic garden near Beaufort in Victoria. Jo spent her child¬ hood at Belmont and following her parents deaths in 1993. is taking her turn as the 4th generation family member to care for its future. Jo is an English/French teacher and has three children and one grandchild. ASHLEY M. RUSSELL holds a Master of Und- scape Architecture degree from the Universi¬ ty of Melbourne and currently works as a Landscape Design Consultant on a wide range of projects including both city and country gardens. Since 1990 she has also been teaching Landscape studies in Victorian primary and secondary schools. She has a particular interest in the history of roses and Australian ^rdens. JEANNIE SIM is a Landscape Architect based in Brisbane who is working on a doctorate on the history of landscape design in Queens¬ land. Jeannie lectures in landscape design, history and conservation and is compiling an inventory of significant Queensland land¬ scapes. JOHN STOWAR is a television garden presen¬ ter. magazine garden editor and has published several garden books. He is also on the AGHS Southern Highlands committee and a selector for Australia’s Open Garden Scheme. Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 3 TASMANIAN LEGACY Jo shodihroiK^L Jlutij s (jar was in^ l)lanis. JJJit alwa il/o, un iic Dw anijone loose in jor jear lleij maij recious l}ull}s, as in have h, KITTY HENRY By GAY KLOK K itty Henry lived in an old house in Sandy Bay, Hobart. The house, Ellington, situated in the Golden Mile of Hobart, Tasmania, was surrounded by a wild and beautiful garden. It was shabby, yet exciting and mysterious within. Once could ramble on from room to room and space to space, exploring the bookcases which stood in every odd corner, touching the exciting coloured vases, cracked and covered in dust. The unpainted walls, bare boards and stacks of gardening mag¬ azine and books, all added to the atmosphere of an Aladdin’s Cave to a little girl of four years of age. In the front hall, which only strangers used, was a porthole in the wall, which apparently came off Joseph Conrad’s ships and there was a fireplace that was surrounded by real Dutch tiles of beautiful Delft blue and soft green. Turning left off this hallway, one entered an area that had been separated at an earlier time into a self-contained flat. During the years that I knew Kitty, this was let to a Scotsman of a very uninteresting character whose only claim to fame was his daily swim, even in the middle of Tasmania’s cold winters, in the freezing water of the beautiful River Derwent. Maybe he was not as dour as my memory tells me as I was only a very little girl when Mr Black lived in the back flat. But the area was forbidden to young children by some unstated law. Turning right on entering through the main hall, one ended in the library, a large airy room, with bookshelves crammed with many volumes on all subjects. The walls, full of paintings and prints, were dominated by a large oil paint¬ ing of Kitty, painted by L. Deschaineux, head of the art school of Hobart during the early years of this century. I have this painting now and it is simply titled ‘La Jardiniere’. In it, Kitty stares pensively ahead, her strong chin exaggerat¬ ed, her soft brown eyes those of a young girl looking out rather doubtfully on the world. Her full lips are painted scarlet, the same shade as the Turkish fez that is capturing the long, black, wiry hair and she wears a turquoise blouse underneath a sky blue jacket. Next to this painting hung another portrait by the same artist, now in the Tasmanian Art Gallery and Museum. Kitty is dressed in a black jumper and on close examination you can just discern a hole in the jumper. This is Kitty as you usually found her, dressed for the garden. Kitty was a florist and a gardener. The years I knew her intimately were in the 1940s and 1950s. We had moved as a family from Sydney and my parents had rented a house, opposite Kitty and Papa Henry’s. Sometimes I would watch her dress for a social function and, even as a little girl, I was fascinated at the transforma- Je en llLe walliin^ ihroufjh laijers oj i 11 e wilaerness was Jij, 3{i{{ii 7. Ij won ih U noi Je ler e (jaraen Jl(^ ujj one oj( JeeJ, would h a crow Jed tion that took place. In a few moments I would see Kitty as I knew her, a mannish figure dressed in old trousers and jumper, turn into a beautiful exotic woman, just as a butter¬ fly emerges from its dry chrysalis. Kitty never had any money to buy designer clothes and there was no hot water in the house, but she would appear from the bathroom, some wonderful material draped around her strong body, silver bangles with turquoise stones clasped onto her arms and a slash of scarlet lipstick on her mouth, her curly black hair brushed into a neat roll at the nape of her neck - and it was then she could have walked down the cat walk of any fashion parade. She would have a cigarette in her hand, the large square hands that she could not transform, the garden soil being ground into the cracks and with the nicotine stains from the inevitable cigarettes. Those were the honest hands of the full time gardener. If Kitty wanted a change of exotic material from which to fashion a dress, she thought nothing of asking for a loan of a length of^ material from your hanging curtains, as long as the colour was right and the velvet plush enough and you were a friend. She would take this length of material and without cutting it, would pin it here and there with an intriguing brooch or safety pin. The dramatic flower created, she would have a last gulp from a tall glass of tea, from which she drank incessantly, then at last, she would be ready. There would be someone waiting to give her a lift, prob¬ ably having waited for quite a while as Kitty never came in from the garden until too late. Excited and happy, Kitty would be off to the theatre or a social party. When you got to know Kitty well and became wiser, you would arrange to pick her up an hour earlier than your destination arrival time so that now and again you would not arrive too late. However late normally, Kitty was always on time for the 9 theatre, which she looked forward to with the excitement of a young girl, going to her first ball. The out of bounds flat and library were reached by going through the Flower Room. This central area was the inner sanctum, the inner engine, the Queen Bee’s domain. Five doors led off the Flower Room - including the door to Kitty and Papa’s sitting room, several wooden steps leading up to the ancient bathroom where Papa Henry had to light a wood heater for Kitty to have a bath, and an outside door to the garden, which was never closed, even in the deepest of a bitterly cold winter. Standing on the wooden floor there would be huge bowls of flowers. On one side there was a table covered in the tools of the trade, electric wire, wire cutters, chicken wire, scissors and glasses of cold, warm or hot tea. On another wall, near the entrance to the flat, was a Huon Pine sideboard, the drawers filled with neatly rolled ribbons of every subtle hue and texture - best quality velvet, taffeta. een veri^ easij in sue wilderness oj lean y- 4 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 Septeinber/October 1996 moire silk. These were always kept in pristine order and had to be treated with deference. I am writing generally of the war years and I suspect exotic ribbons became hard to find as those years advanced, but Hobart had old fashioned shops where such luxuries had been stored in large amounts during the pre war years. The haunting beauty of Kitty’s floral creations became a legend in both the social and intellectual circles of Tasmania. When Queen Elizabeth II first visited Australia, Kitty was asked to make the floral bouquet to be presented to the young Queen as she finst set foot on Tasmanian soil - the first reigning monarch to visit the ‘Apple Isle’. Later in the morning, the Queen was presented with another floral offering created by Kitty, as she was welcomed by the high dignitaries of State in the Town Hall of Hobart. The young Queen was most impressed with the flowers and asked to meet the florist and Kitty was presented to the Monarch of the Realm. This must have been a deeply happy moment in Kitty’s life as she had a very strong feeling for history and society. I imagine that Kitty had pil¬ laged many friends’ gardens the eve before. She stayed up all night to achieve perfection. Kitty dirtied her hands in most of the huge gardens surrounding the mansions of Sandy Bay, landscaping and suggesting to the wealthy owners which plants to buy and where to put them. She would plant them in their final place, mostly for no pecuniary reward - maybe a lunch thrown in or a cutting or two. Her reward was the excitement of the open purse for the purchase of exotic plants and of designing wonderful ter¬ races and flights of steps in Tasmania’s soft sandstone, all the things she would have dearly loved to have in her own garden but could never afford. Kitty was always poor and completely disorganised in the keeping of records and ledgers. I still have a vivid picture of a very smooth businessman visiting from ‘The Mainland’, sitting in an overstuffed armchair which was grubby but still lovely with its faded colours. He had pulled the chair as close to the open fire as possible, without actually sitting in the open hearth, and was pleading with Kitty to let him take her back with him to Sydney, where he would set her up as a florist and landscaper, manage her money and, he hinted, both he and Kitty would make an enormous amount of income. 1 recall Kitty laughing her full deep laugh, her brown skin reddening with a maiden’s blush; and taking a gulp of black tea and a long drag from her cigarette, she ‘phoo-phooed’ the idea. But. at the same time, 1 also see her large brown hands nervously pushing the stray curls into the roll at the nape or her neck and a puzzled, wondering look in her deep brown eyes. It must have been very frustrating for Kitty to never have the means to buy the plants she needed to use in her floral arrangements, nor, indeed, the area of land in which to plant them in. But friends were always generous in gathering flowers from their gardens when Kitty' called for help, bring¬ ing them around to the flower room and staying to chat and help with the wiring, while they slowly froze to death. Kitty’s garden was dominated by a huge walnut tree and as children we were always delighted to help pick the sweet walnuts that stained our fingers black for many weeks. In the outshed-cum-laundry where water was boiled in a huge copper for the wash, there were always vast containers filled with walnuts drying out and these were a non-ending source of vitamins to us children calling to ‘just see’ after school. If Kitty hap¬ pened to be out, there was always Papa Henry,.Kitty’s father, doing something exciting up in the old, stone barn that was situated in the back of the garden covered in ram¬ bling roses. Papa Henry was a car¬ penter and ‘did up’ old furniture for people. He also made many won¬ derful dolls’ houses, complete with miniature pieces of furniture in every room. Very few children left the barn without a little present, a perfect miniature chair carved from cedar or a little Japanese bowl that whistled like a bird when you blew into a tiny hole on its brim. All chil¬ dren loved Papa Henry and Papa Henry loved all children. To stroll through Kitty’s garden was like walking through layers of plants. The wilderness was always untidy, Kitty would not allow anyone ‘loose’ in the garden for fear they may dig up one of her precious bulbs, as indeed, would have been very easy in such a crowded wilderness of beauty. Jardinieres, garden pots and stone horse troughs stood in every part of the garden and sometimes pots stood on other larger pots. They were all crammed full of exotic plants and bulbs. Planted in the earth were huge banks of hydrangeas which flowered with an intense blue and up another path rambled roses. Underneath, if the ground was free of a beautiful pot, sheets of Sterubergia lutea or Cyclamen neapolitum or perhaps a huge clump of Hosta sieboldiana. Kitty loved roses, particularly those of a rich, deep red which blended so beautifully with her luxurious ribbons, but I think her greatest love of all were the lilies. The various layers of garden pots were crammed with the most wonderful lilies and Kitty would always take you to see them, for you to breathe in their perfume or to just stand and gaze on them in wonder. The huge hydrangea bushes which grew under the walnut tree and mulberry tree were fed with the mineral rich red soil that could only be obtained from the Great Lakes area in the centre of Tismania. The Hydro Electric Commis¬ sion was beginning to harness the waters of these lakes, and Kitty would plead with my father, who was Chief Electrical Painting of Kitty Henry entitled la Jardiniere' by L Deschaineux, who was head of the art school in Hobart early this century. Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 Septcniber/October 1996 5 as f LeJ, Wkij Jon / f y ei ‘%Jwiai den?’X‘ in a (jutle jrien would tiabben d Engineer of the Hydro, to bring her back a sugarbag full of the soil from his many trips to the area. How surprised those European engineers, dressed in their Saville Row suits and travelling with my father to discuss estimates for multi¬ million pound plans for the Hydro must have been when my father stopped the car and got out of the boot the sugar bags and shovel. Kitty often used hydrangea heads in her floral decorations, particularly when they had faded to that unique green-blue shade that somehow always reminded me of the story of the ‘Eorsaken Mermaid’. When my sister married, my other sister and I were bridesmaids and we wore splendid flame-coloured ball gowns of many layers of shifting hues. Kitty did all the flowers - for the Cathedral, for parents’ homes and for the bridal parties. The circlets we wore around our heads were of indi¬ vidual hydrangea flowers and orien¬ tal hellebore flowers, all wired and very carefully chosen to the be the right cool sea green shade and the bouquets of repeating hydrangeas and white hyacinths were a marvel¬ lous foil to the rather hot and daring shade of our gowns. Some years later, I was to marry in Canada and, twenty-four hours after arriving there, on my wedding morning, I hurriedly looked up florists in the telephone book to order a simple posy to carry into the church. Looking out of the window at the many feet of snow cover¬ ing the earth, I felt very homesick and would have dearly liked to have been sitting in the flower room, wiring up hun¬ dreds of little flowers, helping Kitty to make my wedding arrangements. My wistful thoughts were rudely interrupted by a voice from the telephone, with what was, to my untrained ears, a very American voice barking at me - ‘Well, what do you want? Do you want Mums?’ My wandering brain was quite stunned and all I could think was ‘How can it be Mum’s, she’s back in Tasmania!’ 1 stammered, ‘1 beg your pardon. I’m not sure what you mean?’ It turned out the abrupt voice at the end of the telephone had been asking me if I wanted Chrysanthemums in my simple little posy! Needless to say, I contacted another florist and ended with a posy of blue hyacinths and pink rose buds flown up from California. Nor quite Kitty’s work of art that I had always imagined I would carry down the aisle! Kitty landscaped many of the old, large gardens in Hobart and the substantial farming properties throughout Tasmania. She loved the countryside and would often go and stay in one of the mansions and spend the weekend advising and planting. When actually commissioned to do garden designing, her own particular style was a mixture of Edna Walling and Gertrude Jekyll. She dearly loved sand¬ stone for steps and terraces and used the rocks and boulders that were so readily available in mountainous Tasmania. mansions. // was die sitj hi oj JfiHij s leauiijuljlowers an Jd e jierjunie wajUnoj ihroin^h ifie garden ifiai turnedijounej lirds an d di le oees. e (jaraen ikouqliis io // AiHu dli f oil an inus marrie 1 9!^ 'Ll ij we had wou jorqei w inus drawled at IdJ? voice, len, mu gear c dei anij Id Lei ill children ? d lem in an here ,sh If you visit these gardens today and some of those old it is very easy to feel the presence of Kitty, to know that part of the history of the property is Kitty with her hands buried in the earth, choosing the plants and plant¬ ing them lovingly in the perfect place. The choice of shrubs and perennials, the formation of a flight of steps, or the subtle terracing is a haunting reminder that ‘Kitty has been here’. Unfortunately in Sandy Bay, where Kitty did most of her land¬ scaping, many of the old homes have disappeared and their gardens are subdivided into very small but expensive blocks. It is hard to imagine Kitt>’ living in these times. She died, prematurely, when aged in her early sixties, from Bright’s Disease. Perhaps it was the endless tall glasses of tea that were dotted all over the garden that she drank from as she moved from corner to corner, seeking that one^ flower of just the right, subtle^ hue...the tea always gulped down, no matter if it was hot, cold or warm. Maybe it was the many cigarettes; or maybe it was just to be. Kitty, who would have been saved from this disease if she lived today, left so early the rapidly changing world. But somehow, I cannot place Kitty in the gardening world of the Seventies onwards. Would she have gone to a College and learnt the correct way of things and would that made have made her happy? Or would that have changed her almost childlike wonder at the beauty of things? Perhaps it would have killed her talent which had that quality of innocence and simplicity and the joyousness of ‘good taste’. What I do know is that all the plants that are available now in Tasmania (as they were not in Kitty’s time) would have excited her very much. And yet, somehow, Kitty was ^ able to make beautiful gardens and wonderful flower w arrangements using all the plants that our first settlers wanted to see growing around their homes. The trees and shrubs that reminded them of the ‘old country’. I will finish with an anecdote that involved me when I was a little girl of eight or nine. We were poking around Kitty’s garden, my mother was there and a mutual friend of my mother and Kitty’s. This gentleman was a Noel Coward type of chap, with a barbed sense of humour and was a frequent visitor at Kitty’s. Maybe it was the sight of Kitty’s beautiful flowers and the perfume wafting through the garden that turned my young thoughts to the birds and the bees. ‘Kitty, ‘ I asked, ‘Why don’t you and Linus get married?’ ‘And what then?’ Linus drawled in a quite friendly voice, ‘What would happen then, my dear child? What if we had any children? Kitty would heel them in and forget where she’s put ‘em!’ When Kitty died, her house and garden were bulldozed to make room for flats. sne s I ut em: r 6 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 Septcmbcr/Octobcr 1996 STONINGTON DISCOVERING MORE ON WILLIAM SANGSTER By ASHLEY RUSSELL AND BERYL BLACK I n addition to old Nursery catalogues, the diaries of past Nurserymen and Garden Designers provide a most useful source of information about the design and construction of early Australian gardens. It was most interesting to recently learn more about the work of William Sangster and the nursery of Taylor and Sangster in Toorak, Victoria, when reading the tran¬ scription of his only known diaries from the years 1854, 1855, 1862 and 1892. The Melbourne nursery was situated on the corner of Toorak Road and Wallace Avenue in Toorak with immediate access to the new mansions being built in Toorak and adjacent areas. There was also another nursery at Mount Macedon where most of the trees were grown. The 1892 diary mentions many large gardens in the area and included a detailed description of Mr Hugo Wertheim’s in Kensington Road, Mr Sylvester John Browne’s in Torres- dale Road and also Mr John Wagner’s at ‘Stonington’, in Glenferrie Road, Malvern. ‘Stonington’ is now one of the campuses of Deakin University. Sangster gave advice on both suburban gardens and country estates, with diary notes also recording that he visited the owners of many country prop¬ erties, including Captain Bridges at Trawalla and ‘young Mr Crookes’ at Holey Plains. Visiting ‘Stonington’ recent¬ ly, much of the original layout and many of the 100 year old trees still remain with remnant plantings from the past still visible. Some trees from the early plantings which can be still seen include a group of Araucaria near the front gate, with fine specimens of Hoop Pine, Araucaria cuntiingharnii, Norfolk Island Pine, A. heterophylla and Cook Pine, A. colummris. A Bunya Bunya Pine, A. hidwillii was recently removed and the Victorian branch of the Australian Garden History Society plan to donate another Bunya Bunya to take its place. There are also specimens of Bhutan Cypress, Cupressus torulosa, Canary Island Palm, Phoenix canariensis, Algerian Oak, Querctis canariensis. Blue Atlas Cedar, Cedrtis atlanti- ca ‘Glauca’ and Moreton Bay Fig, Ficus macrophylla. One remaining Chinese Windmill Palm, Trachycarpus fortunei is a remnant from a pair originally planted on either side of the pathway to the north of the house. Two new specimens have been just planted either side of the rein¬ stated pathway in accord with the original plan. ‘Stonington’ was completed in 1891 and in the following excerpts from his 1892 diary, Sangster records numerous visits to the garden and his discussions with Wagner. Nov. 8. Went to Wagners and took account, promised to get a man to put carpet beds to rights. Nov 9th. Went to Wagners in after¬ noon with Hislop and showed him how to rearrange carpet beds in patterns. Nov 14th. Hislop started to do up carpet bed at bottom of terrace. Nov. 28. Went to Wagners and went rou?td with him. Hislop and his brother doing beds on terrace. Dec. 6. Looking out plants for Wagner in the morning and went out with them in the morning. Gave Hislop cheque for £5-12-0 for sixteen days doing beds Oft terrace at Wagners. A Garden Conservation and Management Plan was completed in August 1994 by John Patrick Pty Ltd in associ¬ ation with Allom Lovell and Associates Pty Ltd. Work has already begun on implementing some of the recommenda¬ tions contained in this report, including the reinstatement of the original pathway along the northern side of the house. In July 1995, the rose bed inside the main driveway from Glenferrie Road to the house was extended and redeveloped with plantings of 101 nine¬ teenth century roses, some 36 being from the list of 90 roses in Sangsters 1862 diary. Among these were Mrs Bosenquet, Mme Bravy, Baron de Wasse- naer and Boule de Nanteuil. Others from the list have been located in England and America but as yet aren’t available in Australia. Research is continuing on these diaries and it is hoped that they will be published in the near future and provide a valuable added resource for investigations into Australian garden history. 'Stonington’ is situated at 336 Glenferrie Road, Malvern - now a campus of Deakin University. An Open Day will be held on Saturday 16 November when the roses will be at their peak. Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 7 BIBLIOPHILIC BANTER JUST A PHASE By JOHN STOWAR I t’s just a phase - he’ll grow out of it!’ I’ve heard my mother’s words often; first probably during my early schooldays and certainly very recently - with a large measure of consternation now that I’m rapidly approaching 50! She was no doubt referring to many passions, but mostly to my hobby/interest at the time which included, in roughly chronological order: SUCCULENTS — in an awful ‘rockery’ built around a birdbath with fishing gnome, my first gardening adventure when I was about 10. DAHLIAS - along our house street frontage where 1 sought to grow the largest ‘decoratives’ ever seen on planet earth. VEGETABLE GROWING - in the small area permitted me in our suburban patch, with impossible conditions of shade and plum tree roots. GOLDFISH AND BUDGERIGAR BREEDING, collecting stamps, coins and fossils, rocks and gemstones. The goldfish and budgerigars were constantly plagued with fungal diseases, coins and stamps were wet weather inter¬ ests only; I never did find that elusive sapphire and the fossils and rocks from all over Aus¬ tralia - they ended up as aggre¬ gate in a concrete slab! POULTRY RAISING - my project for the then ‘Junior Farmers Club’ when I was a suburban Sydney youth who longed for the bush. ANTIQUES - I vividly recall my parents dismay at my arriving home (aged about 15) on a crowded train, carrying aloft a cedar wine table bought at Pickles’ auction rooms. NATIVE PLANTS in mulched beds - when my father’s focus was THE perfect lawn of Queensland blue couch; straight-edged with concrete mower strips, flanked with serried oleanders (annually slaughtered to stumps) alternat¬ ed with similarly treated cotoneasters. SELF-SUFFICIENCY - with the goal of my own house cow to enable butter and cheese production - then only a theoretical phase but subsequently totally immersed for ten years when our young kids were growing up. LAVENDER and lavender products - after becoming totally disillusioned with city life, this became my first country project which I saw as a potential livelihood in spite of our clearly unsuitable conditions of acid soils and high summer rainfall! JAPANESE MAPLES - with the unrealistic aim of growing all of the several hundred cultivars. TREES - when 1 look back on ten years of working as a landscape architect, the one enduring thing for me was the trees. These remain my abiding passion. My current passion is for anything Mediterranean - probably inspired by a walking tour of Tuscany, but no doubt influenced also by gardening philosophy. In spite of living in one of the wettest parts of Australia (where the local rainforest engulfs you if you stand still for more than three minutes), I have my Mediterranean garden section; which probably only goes to show there IS no logic in the sequence or thrust of any of these ‘phases’, all of which have been accompanied with vora¬ cious reading. I have always loved books. A pile of diverse titles is always beside the bed. I cannot watch TV unless 1 also have a book, pen and paper at hand. And I have a good library which encompasses all of my ‘phases’. I am compelled to write down and store favourite quotes... is that a phase too? It’s been going now for at least 35 years! My shelves reveal it all - my phases, my passions, my life! I’ll select a few volumes, each of which made an impact. School Agriculture and Junior Farmers’ Textbook by two authors, one of whom was the father of a school mate at primary school. 1 always con¬ sidered Graham so lucky! In spite of the fact that he, like me, was living in suburban Sydney. The pull of the country was almost unbearable for this city-bred youth. Feathered World Year Book and Poultry Keeper’s Guide for 1936 - an English publication, much thumbed and sequestered from my grandmother, full of esoteric informa¬ tion on the various poultry breeds and their suppliers throughout Britain. At the time they seemed very relevant when I visited my grandmother and her chookyard with its engaging spangled flock. Designing Australian Bush Gardens by Betty Maloney and Jean Walker, bought in 1966 just as 1 was discovering landscape architecture as a profession. One of the very first books on Australian plants - a revelation and inspiration. What a thrill to meet Betty and her husband Reg many years later, become friends and to film their garden for TV! For a long time I’ve had the idea of analysing the garden (where they still live), to record how much it has changed since her original plan in the book. •> •) 8 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 Grow Your Own by Jeannie Darlington - a ‘back to earther’. A slim volume of her American experiences which always enthused me. I have annotated my copy with season¬ al substitutions for the hemispheres. Living in the Environment by Alistair Knox. Achingly beautiful designs. Why aren’t there more mudbrick homes? Complete Guide to Self-Sufficiency by John Seymour. He never reveals how he lost his first wife but I always suspect¬ ed it was from botulism. Five Acres arid Independence by M Kains - the dream of all city dwellers who question their lifestyle’s remoteness from earth’s rhythms. Flight from the City by Ralph Borsodi - how many times I’ve read it and dreamt. But on reflection, not once have 1 picked it up during my last 18 years spent in the country! Walden by David Tlioreau. My ideas on escaping from city life were firming up, totally unrealistic though they may have been. _ Earth Garden magazines were eagerly devoured every month. Our inner-city terrace backyard included a pen of bantams, much to the consternation of neighbours who couldn’t handle the rooster’s wake up calls. Finally fleeing the city, I quickly found my lavender ideas unrealistic but immersed myself in maples. Japanese Maples by Vertrees. What a feast! What mouth¬ watering cultivars - all grown by the author. Fortu¬ nately my gardening condi¬ tions suited them well and I indulged. A foray into growing them commercially made me reluctantly accept that insufficient people shared my passion - certainly not enough at the time for my livelihood. In my present capacity as a garden writer I am in the happy position of having books regularly sent to me for review but The Principles of Gardening was ‘on special’. The cover screamed ‘coffee table’ (orange oriental poppy on a black background). This book is brilliant. Perhaps it’s the fresh approach to every aspect of gardening. As the author, Flugh Johnson says - he wrote it when he was unfathoming the world of horticulture. With his flair for phrases and talent for thorough research, it remains an inspiration. What an intellect! I think of Hugh Johnson as the person I’d most like to meet at a dinner party. He has also written books on wine and under the nom de plume of Tradescant he is a regular contributor to the Royal Horticultural Society’s monthly magazine The Garden. A Modern Herbal by Mrs M Grieve is an extraordinary publication. A monumental effort first published in 1931 with the ‘medicinal, culinary, cosmetic and economic prop¬ erties, cultivation and folklore of herbs, grasses, fungi, shrubs and trees with all their modern scientific uses’. It’s more than that. I refer to it often and am fascinated and sidetracked at every reading. Could there really be justifica¬ tion for any other books on herbs? The Well-Tei7jpered Garden by Christopher Lloyd - such wit, such knowledge based on practical experience - such good fortune to inherit Dixter! And I believe he has written a weekly column for Country Life for about 30 years! (That even beats Vita’s long run for The Observer.) Hillier’s Manual of Trees and Shrubs. I bought the 5th edition when I visited the nursery in 1989. (My second hand copy of the 1971 edition had long been a bible). What a treat to roam the 160 acres of horticultural treasures. In that year of drought they were installing irrigation. For all the years it had not been needed for the many thou¬ sands of plants. Does that not say a lot about the irrelevance of English gar¬ dening tradition to our shores? A Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and North¬ ern Europe by Alan Mitchell. Oh how I wish I’d taken the opportunity to do his oaks course when I was at Westonbirt. This measurer and lover of trees has since died and the opportunity has been lost forever. / Planted Trees by Richard St Barbc Baker. Did you hear the delightful interview he gave for the ABC’s Science Show? A forester who looked beyond the number of cubic feet (super feet?). Perhaps this tree thing is just another phase. If so, it’s been a mighty long one - one which I hope and feel will never pass. Trees reveal so much about their surroundings. (Over 13 years I’ve planted more than 500 trees of 160 species and cultivars on our five hectare block.) Gardening can take you in so many different directions. We can all indulge in books but fortunate indeed are those who can also combine this passion with a piece of ground. John Stowar 'on tour' at Boortkoi - still in the 'gardening phase'! Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 9 EMILY GIBSON WRITER, LECTURER AND GARDEN DESIGNER By JOHN PATRICK AND JANET SCOTT T he name Emily Gibson (nee Millie Grassick) means very little to many people, including those who work within her own field of expertise, Garden Design. To others, mostly former students of hers, Emily Gibson was a major influence, an inspiration and a person of whom they speak with fond memories. She excelled in two things; landscaping and journalism, and was responsible for the design of a large number of gardens including parts of Burnley Horti¬ cultural College Gardens, the Shell Refiner^' at Geelong and the Vacuum Oil Refinery buildings at Altona. For 22 years she wrote for the Melbourne Argus, and this, together with her lecturing, made her a considerable influence on garden design in Victoria during the 1930s and 1940s. Emily Matilda (Millie) Grassick was born in Dublin in 1887, one of nine children of Scottish parents. In 1911, her family migrated to Australia and one of her lasting memo¬ ries was of her arrival in Western Australia when she was welcomed by the sight of the thousands of wild flowers in full bloom. Her family settled in Victoria and Millie enrolled as a student at Burnley Horticultural College where Edna Walling was also a student during the years 1916 and 1917. On graduation, Millie went to work in the office of Mr and Mrs Burley Griffin. Here she broadened her experience by learning to draft plans, working with Max Meldrum for painting and Bertha Merfield for design. In 1918 she returned to Burnley as a staff member. For four years she lectured in landscape design and gardening and was in charge of part-time courses in horticulture. Leaving Burnley in 1922, Millie returned to England, where she joined the landscape architecture practice of BEHIND THE HEDGES GARDEN TOURS Visit some of NORTHERN TASMANIA’S finest gardens - Culzean, Rrickendon, Panshanger, Brickendon, Longford Hall and Esk Earm among others. Two tlays in your own ear ambling along country lanes with country hospitality and good food. Group tours available at different times and for longer periofls. Proposed 1996 dates: October 6, 20, 27 and Novembers, 10, 17,24 CONTACT MARY RUTLEDGE (003) 312 880 Milner, Son and White. She paid a considerable fee to join this practice as an apprentice, and was able to study garden design both in England and on the continent. She must have gained valuable experience through working with a major practice and being able to visit major European gardens. On returning to Victoria in 1924, she began her career as a gardening journalist when she joined the staff of the Mel¬ bourne Argus as their horticultural writer. This association was to last for 22 years. Writing under the pseudonym 'Cul- turalist', so popular was her column that she answered more than 2000 letters annually. Millie was also horticultural columnist for the Australasian. It was during this period that she met the Argus agricultural writer, John Gibson and they married in 1934. Gibson’s work was not confined to her newspaper columns. During the early 1930s, she gave a series of lec¬ tures on garden design to the inmates of Pentridge. This had arisen from a frequently made mistake, the assumption that her pseudonym was a disguise for a man. The Governor of Pentridge contacted the Argus and asked that ‘Culturalist’ visit the prison and present a scries of lectures to selected prisoners. The Governor was most surprised to meet a woman, but Gibson continued her work over a period of eight or nine weeks giving lectures and practical advice. After establishing gardening classes at Brighton Techni¬ cal School and teaching practical gardening there for two years, Millie Gibson returned to Burnley as a temporary part-time horticultural instructor. This temporary (more full-time than part-time) post was to continue until her retirement, shortly before her 66th birthday. Past students at Burnley, many of whom are now well known in the horticultural industry, remember her as being popular with both students and staff, her quiet, genteel manner holding the respect of those with whom she came into contact. One student recalls that ‘we learned more in half a day with Mrs Gibson than in the other four and a half days’. She seems to have had great powers of persuasion. Having encouraged students from Burnley to further their training, she then persuaded King’s College, Durham Uni¬ versity (now part of Newcastle University) to accept these Burnley graduates for further training. Gibson also worked in partnership on many projects with other past Burnley students, including Hilda Dance (now' Mrs Marriot) and Grace Fraser, who remembers her amazing breadth of vision. She remembers that Gibson was always able to help with design problems, being able to relate similar problems she had encountered and conse¬ quently able to offer a suitable solution. Having worked in the Burley Griffin office, Gibson showed sympathy for the work of architects. She advocated the use of low' spreading shrubs at the corner of house walls to help blend the building with its surroundings. Where the house had desirable architectural lines, all permanent planti¬ ng around it should be low and evergreen, linking house with garden. It is not easy to identify the major influences in the work of Gibson. She appears to have applied many of the routine principles of garden design to her work. Her thoughts may be summed up by the following quotation in which the # # 10 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 1 July/August 1996 influence of Gertrude Jekyll is identified. There are tivo ideals. One is to concentrate on flower production only, an illustration of this may be seen in any cut flower nursery; the other is to use flowers as a painter uses his materials, to obtain proportion, contrast and harmony, in other words, to paint a beautiful picture. Gibson’s knowledge and taste in plants was extremely catholic, without any obvious preference for natives. Mar¬ garet Hendry, one of her students (see article p. 12) recalls ‘being taken by her to one of her gardens... it was an infor¬ mal garden of free flowing shapes and contained an abun¬ dance of spring flowers, especially bulbs and perennials, cherries and crabapples. The colour palette she used was pinks, whites and blues.’ Here we see another Jekyll influ¬ ence coming through. Structures were not a feature of Gibson’s gardens. A pergola was used to emphasise a vista or long view through a garden which also acted as a path. The pergola covering provided a shaded walkway. Paths, pergolas, shade and spa¬ ciousness were ultimately hound together. Paths were generally short and functional, conforming with her observation that 'simplicity is the foundation of beauty, it is only needed to see some cottage gardens of England with their cobblestones, flagstone, or brick paths, lined with sweet smelling flowers’. Flowers in borders would be allowed to grow out and soften the edging. Millie Gibson was a few years older than Edna Walling, but they were both landscaping in the same period, one in which Walling was dominant. Peter Watts suggests that Walling approached Gibson with the idea of forming a part¬ nership. It was probably best that a partnership was never formed, as both Walling and Gibson had their own definite ideas and it would have been most unlikely that they would have been able to co-operate with each other professionally; they were both clearly individuals. While Gibson did not form this partnership with Walling, she did work with John Stevens in the middle to late 1950s. This work was for large industrial sites rather than small suburban homes. The majority of their joint work was for Stephenson and Turner, or Buchan, Laird and Buchan. Little information is recorded about the work of Millie Gibson, apart from her newspaper articles, a few plans and sketches, and the memories of her students and colleagues. She appears to have been a woman of amazing energy. Her Irish charm and gentle manner won the respect of all those with whom she came into contact. A journalist, teacher and landscape designer, she was devoted to horticulture. A list of 15 gardens on which she worked date from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. There will have been other gardens from her earlier career, but records of these now seem to have been lost. This article has been modified from the original text included in Journal of the Australian Garden History Society, Summer 1982 No. 3 written by John Patrick and Janet Scott, a final year student at Burnley. Any further information on Emily Gibson and other less known early garden designers would he appreciated by the editor to use in future Journals. SITES DESIGNED BY GIBSON Emily Gibson landscaped a number c ^f sites and private gardens in Victoria, including the following: British Nylon Spinners 1958 British Tobacco Co. 1954 Burnley Gardens (section) Fairley Women’s Prison (section) Forsyth Hall, Riversdale Road 1966 Geelong Old Folks’ Home 1949 Healesville Hospital 1951 Martin/King Westall Factory Northern Boundary Royal Children’s Hospital 1952 Pentridge Prison (section) Sale Nursing Home 1950-51 Shell Co. Housing, Geelong 1953 Tintern Church of England Girls’ Grammar School University Women’s College 1960 Vacuum Oil Refinery, Altona 1953 JULIE KEEGAN GARDEN LOVERS TOUR Julie Keegan will introduce you to beautiful gardens, historic houses and delicious local food and wine. 1997 PROGRAMMES April 28 to South of France, Tuscany May 15 and Italian Lakes May 20 to Chelsea Flower Show, June 4 Portugal and Spain FOR BROCHURE Julie Keegan 7 Cove Street Watsons Bay Sydney 2030 Tel (02) 9337 1147 Pax (02) 9337 6782 FOR RESERVATION Wentworth Travel 203/233 New South Head Road Edgecliff2027 Licence No. 2TA001726 Tel (02) 9327 4699 Fkx (02) 9327 6861 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 11 CANBERRA’S HIDDEN GARDEN An early impression, showing initial plantings of columnar trees such as Lombardy Poplars and Italian Cypress to add emphasis to the formal axis. FROM BARE PLAIN TO MAGNIFICENT PARK By MARGARET HENDRY 'TP n he spring delights of Flori- JL ade are within walking distance of one of Canberra’s historic treasures. Hidden within the present tree canopy of the parliamentary parkland is a garden. It is the original formal garden constructed during the mid 20’s in front of and as part of the building programme of Old Parliament House. Today, a keen eye together with a perceptive imagination is required to piece together the fragments of this garden. The formal geometry of the 1918 Griffin plan has been changed, but the renaissance model of axis, avenues and vistas still retain the essential components of its structure. Both the events of recent times blended with the progressive use of different species of trees have absorbed and changed the character of the original garden. The garden is an expression of European culture. It illustrates a need for the early settlers to control the unfamiliar by intro¬ ducing formal structures into the landscape. Its location provides a statement of intent current at the time of Federation, that the Federal Capital should be a Garden City. The choice of trees from the northern hemi¬ sphere, such as Lombardy Poplars, Italian Cypress and Cedars, even though at the time, there were experiments with Australian plants, reveals the underlying decisions for formal elements to be part of this garden. Canberra is an example of the nation’s continuing inter¬ est in gardening. The selection of tree and shrub species was Plan of the Federal Capital Parliamentary Grounds. More than 200 grown trees were transported to the Parliament House grounds from Westbourne Woods for the Opening of Parliament on 9th May, 1911. based on plants acclimatised and grown in the Sydney, Mel¬ bourne and Ballarat Botanical Gardens. Together with the plant nurseries established soon after settlement, they had a marked influence on the type of ; plants used in the developing | towns and cities, especially home gardens. So it is not surprising that Canberra has become the Garden City of the Federation Advocates, even though the volatility of the political arena of the time makes this achievement remarkable. From the time the site was selected, the Seat of Government Act proclaimed, and the Interna¬ tional Competition won by a^ Chicago Landscape Architect, the landscape qualities of both the site and the city have been primary considerations in the development of Canberra. Not only was its implementation complicated by the unstable political situation, lack of funds, but more so by the personalities of the people involved. This growing awareness of the importance of the integration of landscape elements within the city was recognised by the ^ winner of the competition. In the accompanying ‘Report Explana¬ tory of the Preliminary General Plan’, Walter Burley Griffin describes ‘great gardens and water vistas’ as well as a ‘con¬ certed park or garden frontage for all important structures’. Griffin set the seal on the Garden City Concept. So, it is not surprising that the garden designed and con¬ structed as part of the Old Parliament House Complex was the subject of much debate. It was conceived by the Federal Capital Advisory Committee in the early ‘20’s and con¬ structed by the Federal Capital Commission from the mid 12 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 ‘20’s in time for the Opening of Parliament in May 1927. Discussions about the garden began three years before the opening of the House at a time after the road layout based on Griffin’s 1918 plan was agreed. Mindful of the need to plant trees in associa¬ tion with the roads, the Committee began to actively canvas opinion for the design of the garden on the Ainslie Axis. As the garden layout was considered an architectural matter, it was referred to the architectural staff of the Department of Works and Railways in Melbourne and 1370 view of the Canberra plains Nation’s Capital. then to James Orwin in the Sydney Office of the Director of Works for NSW to prepare a sketch plan for discussion with an eminent Sydney architect and consulting engineer, Herbert Ross, a member of the F.C.A.C. While the early ideas varied from a rose garden directly in front of the House to an informal layout, the Sydney group’s proposal for a strictly formal garden was accepted. The decision was probably influenced by the climate of — opinion in Sydney at that time. Formal gardens were featured in architectural journals, and designers were introducing strong formal elements into their designs. The Orwin sketch plans were discussed and amended by various Depart¬ mental professional officers as well as members of the before the site was selected for the Committee, the final design was completed by John Murdoch, the Chief Architect of the Melbourne Office of the Department of Works and Railways. Orwin provided the details of the levels for the roads and grounds. A.XJCTION : at “dalvui” THURSDAY 14th NOVEMBER - 2.00 PM An Historic landmark of Victoria’s Rural heritage “^alpui ” noorat 562 ACRES - 227 ha / V, ONE OF THE FINEST REMAINING GARDENS DESIGNED BY WILLIAM GUILFOYLE ECHOING IN MINIATURE IHS TRIUMPH THE ROYAL BOTANICAL GARDENS IN MELBOURNE. ^_ r Within renowned Camperdown district, adjacent to the picturesque village of Noorat. 2.S hours Melbourne. Magnificent balance of rich-fertile Volcanic country. Outstanding never failing water supply, including 110 acres irrigation. All improved heavy carrying pastures, outstanding fencing. SUIT FATTENING - BREEDING - STUD - DAIRYING. y ■ ^ ^ MAJESTIC 2 STOREY SOLID BRICK HOMESTEAD (1908). FINE EXAMPLE OF THE TUDORESQUE QUEEN ANNE STYLE, _ SKILLFULLY REFURBISHED TO THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE STANDARD. _^ 23 main rooms, offering stunning architectural features. Baronial style dining room enhanced by stone mullioned windows, massive timber beams and Robert Prenzel chimney pieces. Set within over 8 acres of breathtaking garden of National significance. A MASTERPIECE. INSPECTION BY APPOINTMENT THROUGH AUCTIONEERS: PAT RICE & HAWKINSS 441 ST. HILDA RD. MELBOURNE (03) 9866 5588 AH: 9348 1950. 9853 2740 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 13 Handcoloured tracing by Peter Harrison of one of the panels prepared by Walter Burley Griffin and his wife, Marion Mahony Griffin, as part of their entry in the Federal Capital Competition, 1911 — 12. (From Peter Harrison's book Walter Burley Griffin: Landscape Architect, published by the National Library). Canberra is an example of the nation’s continuing inter¬ est in gardening. The selection of tree and shrub species was based on plants acclimatised and grown in the Sydney, Mel¬ bourne and Ballarat Botanical Gardens. Together with the plant nurseries established soon after settlement, they had a marked influence on the type of plants used in the develop¬ ing towns and cities, especially home gardens. So it is not surprising that Canberra has become the Garden City of the Federation Advocates, even though the volatility of the ations in the development of Canberra. Not only was its implementation complicated by the unstable political situa¬ tion, lack of funds, but more so by the personalities of the people involved. This growing awareness of the importance of the inte- 0 gration of landscape elements within the city was recognised by the winner of the competition. In the accompanying ‘Report Explanatory of the Preliminary General Plan’, Walter Burley Griffin describes ‘great gardens and water political arena of the time makes this achievement remarkable. From the time the site was selected, the Seat of Govern¬ ment Act proclaimed, and the International Competition won by a Chicago Landscape Architect, the landscape quali¬ ties of both the site and the city have been primary consider- vistas’ as well as a ‘concerted park or garden frontage for all important structures’. Griffin set the seal on the Garden City Concept. So, it is not surprising that the garden designed and con¬ structed as part of the Old Parliament House Complex was 14 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 Scptembcr/Octobcr 1996 PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE AUSTRALIAN ARCHIVES Aerial view of old Parliament House, Canberra, Looking through the poplars which form part of the main axis of the original Parliament House landscape to the Old Parliament House. the subject of much debate. It was conceived by the Federal Capital Advisory Committee in the early ‘20’s and con¬ structed by the Federal Capital Commission from the mid ‘20’s in time for the Opening of Parliament in May 1927. Discussions about the garden began three years before the opening of the House at a time after the road layout based on Griffin’s 1918 plan was agreed. Mindful of the need to plant trees in association with the roads, the Com¬ mittee began to actively canvas opinion for the design of the garden on the Ainslie Axis. As the garden layout was considered an architectural mattei; it was referred to the architectural staff of the Department of Works and Railways in Melbourne and then to James Orwin in the Sydney Office of the Director of Works for NSW to prepare a sketch plan for discussion with an eminent Sydney architect and consulting engineei; Herbert Ross, a member of the F.C.A.C. While the early ideas varied from a rose garden directly in front of the House to an informal layout, the Sydney group’s proposal for a strictly formal garden was accepted. The decision was probably influenced by the climate of opinion in Sydney at that time. Formal gardens were fea¬ tured in architectural journals, and designers were introduc¬ ing strong formal elements into their designs. The Orwin sketch plans were discussed and amended by various Departmental professional officers as well as members of the Committee, the final design was completed by John Murdoch, the Chief Architect of the Melbourne Office of the Department of Works and Rail¬ ways. Orwin provided the details of the levels for the roads and grounds. During this time, the Minister for Home Affairs appoint¬ ed a Tree Planting Committee to control the tree planting programme in the Capital. The members included the Direc¬ tor General of Works, the Surveyor General, Lands & Survey Branch, Canberra and the Officer in charge of the Afforestation Branch, Thomas Weston. While Weston was given the final responsibility for the selection and provision of the species, it is clear that this too was the subject of much debate. The first trees were planted in July 1925. Their position Canberra is to be the venue for the 1997 Conference, the National Capital lending itself so well to the theme - ‘Twentieth Century Landscapes’. See the work of Weston and Burley Griffin and enjoy the Canberra landscape in its autumn glory over the Anzac Weekend of 25 - 28 April. The venue for the conference is the National Library of Australia, with venues for the social programme including the National Gallery and Old Parliament House. The proposed programme covers all aspects of the twentieth century landscape with a particular emphasis on the designed landscape of Canberra. Following the keynote address on Friday 25 by Dianne Firth, there will be talks by Richard Clough, Vladimir Sita, Judy van Gelderen, Robert Boden, Allan Correy, Robert Boden, Deborah Malor, Helen Armstrong, Richard Ratcliffe, Margaret Hendry and Ken Taylor. There will also be selected tours planned each to give the full flavour of Canberra’s landscapes and gardens, including the Aus¬ tralian National Gallery Sculpture Garden. Monday 28 will be an optional day during which private gardens will be visited. Registration forms will be included in the next Journal. Enquiries: Virginia Berger (06) 295 2330. Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 15 A GARDEN FULL OF PROMISE A CONSERVATION STUDY: THE NINETEENTH CENTURY CHARACTER OF LAKE BURLEY GRIFFIN By ALISSA BURCH A nybody visiting Canberra for the first time, no matter what season, is immediately captivated by the beauti¬ ful landscape which has become so fitting a symbol of the Australian National Capital. The Canberra landscape is a harmonious combination of three themes, the ‘Pastoral’, the ‘Picturesque’ and the ‘Garden City’. Whether one is mes¬ merised by the jagged, snow gum peaks of the Brindabella Ranges or the vast golden pastures or the rich autumn palette of deciduous trees reflect¬ ed in the picturesque shores of Lake Burley Griffin, one is constant¬ ly reminded that in Canberra the beauty of nature is celebrated in every way. Nevertheless, the push for commercial and residential develop¬ ment is a constant threat to the 19th century landscape char¬ acter of Canberra and in particular the ‘Pas¬ toral’, ‘Picturesque’ and ‘Garden City’ land¬ scapes of Lake Burley Griffin. Thus, the purpose of my thesis and this article is to promote a greater appreciation of these landscapes in terms of their cultural signifi¬ cance and thereby provide a reason for their conservation and management. With this in mind, the thesis develops five objectives: to discuss landscape aesthetics from a 19th century British perspective; to briefly document the history of the Canberra landscape from 1820-1993, referencing historical accounts and ‘word pictures’; to ascertain how aesthetics and history have influenced the way the Canber¬ ra landscape is perceived today; to analyse 20th century landscapes exhibiting 19th century characteristics in order to establish their cultural significance today; and to develop a set of recommendations on which to base a Con¬ servation / Management Plan for these landscapes of Lake Burley Griffin. Now, to keep things simple I have extracted the most resonant principles of 19th century aesthetic theory from the first chapters of my thesis, thereby illustrating their relation¬ ship to a particular set of attitudes of each period and the way in which these concepts relate to Canberra. Some of the factors underlying the difference in attitudes or perceptions which we will cover include: cultural, social and economic phenomena. In addition to these factors, scenic beauty as described in art and literature will also be examined. Nineteenth century landscape design was the product of three centuries of landscape aesthetic theory. For centuries the landscape has been influenced by the conventions of painting. The modification of nature to fit a pictorial ideal can be traced back to ancient Greece, Rome, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance period. The 17th century was significant because it marked the beginning of the ‘Picturesque’, or ‘Pastoral’ movement as it was named in its early stages, which sought to capture nature in the form of art. The English land¬ scape paintings of this period prompted the ‘Picturesque’ model for what would become the 18th century garden and eventually, in the 19th century, a world wide movement. Today, in the 20th century, the ‘Picturesque’ movement forms the basis of modern landscape design. Before the 18th century the beauty of ‘natural’ landscape was not appreciated by landscape painters, but later it became a became a painterly ideal. Two schools of thought that were conceived at this time were the - ‘Sublime’ and the ‘Beautiful’. The ‘Sublime’ was illustrated by high-lands or mountains which were considered an extreme landscape; with irregular and contrasting land- forms. Whereas, the ‘Beautiful’ was illustrated by the low¬ lands or meadows and consisted of the small, the smooth, the regular and the balanced. A third category, the ‘Pic¬ turesque’, was added to refer to a particular type of land¬ scape excellence; a mixture of the rugged uncontrolled ‘Sublime’ and the more controlled ‘Beautiful’. It had the qualities of roughness and irregularity. Piauresque Pastoral 16 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 Romantic poets (Wordsworth and Coleridge in particu¬ lar) were the first to produce a philosophy of beauty based on landscape experience. They considered the ‘Sublime’ as a symbol of spiritual values, and felt that natural beauty was all-important and artificial beauty worth very little. The Romantic outlook is still effective, particularly in its rejec¬ tion of man-modified landscapes. In the 19th century, Keats adapted the Romantic theory to low-land or ‘Picturesque’ landscape. Late Victorian writers and painters followed and added to the theory, their vision of Arcadia (drawn from Renaissance art) to form a movement which resisted the industrial objects and values. In the 20th century, the ‘Picturesque’ movement extended from the countryside into the cities, where it influenced the form of urban parks and led to the foundation of landscape design / architecture. Crandell, in her book Nature Pictorialised, notes that the ‘Picturesque’ was conceived in the 18th century England, with adaptation of painterly attributes, such as irregularity, variety, and distance, into the garden. The ‘Picturesque’ also introduced an idealised natural landscape into the garden, in the form of irregularly curving clumps of trees and meadows. Most importantly, however, was the extension of the English garden boundary to include the surrounding landscape. For example, at Castle Howard the landscape designer, John Vandbrugh, rejected a formal ‘Renaissance’ design in preference for a design which took advantage of the coun¬ tryside. Similarly, at Blenheim Palace, Thomas Bridgeman invented the Ha Ha which enabled unrestricted views of the surrounding countryside. This invention was particularly important in the development of landscape making which incorporated the contribution of walls, artificial hills and lakes. The most notable of the ‘Picturesque’ landscape design¬ ers was Capability Brown, who remade gardens, parks and grand estates for landed aristocracy. ‘He routinely destroyed the gardens which had previously surrounded country man¬ sions, demolishing walls, hedges, labyrinths, flower beds, parterres and ornaments in order to abolish formality and evoke picturesque images.’ Brown remoulded the landscape by ‘draining pools to create meadows, pools were joined and rivers dammed to make lakes, and ground was excavat¬ ed to create the serpentine lines along their banks’. He also was responsible for the ‘clump’ plantings of ‘oak, beech and ash trees in grassy meadows at strategic picture-like points’. Whilst, the ‘Picturesque’ of the 18th century was repre¬ sented by gardens modelled 'in the style of a picture’, in the 19th century it ‘connoted not simply a style of composition’ but, a new way to ‘see’ and respond to, scenery. This new landscape perception relied on the artist’s skills of observa¬ tion and, therefore, required a well developed sense of aes¬ thetics. In the 19th century, the landscape was treated more as the garden had been - as an object of beauty. Both rural landscapes and even (usually from a greater distance) urban ones were judged by the visual criteria used to evaluate paintings and gardens. Landscape was recognised as being designed; it became an aesthetic object. So as you can see the ‘Picturesque’ theory which encom¬ passes the ‘Pastoral’ is the dominant aesthetic of the 19th century landscape. At the turn of the century the ‘Garden City’ theory, a derivative of the ‘Picturesque’ or as some would say, an American version, was also introduced to Canberra. However, the original 19th century ‘Picturesque’ character still pervades the landscape. In conclusion. I'll summarise the effect of these aesthetic theories on the Can¬ berra landscape. The ‘Pastoral’ ideal is distinguished by the 19th century rural landscape of early Canberra. The first settlers were pri¬ marily concerned with survival and thus, perceived the land¬ scape as a source of food and shelter rather than one of sig¬ nificant natural beauty. The grasslands were fenced off for grazing and cultivation and trees felled to build huts in a similar fashion to those of 19th century rural settlements in England. This ideal can be found at Blundell's Cottage in Kings Park and at Government House. The second, and most significant aesthetic ideal of the 19th century was the ‘Picturesque’ because it led to a com¬ plete re-evaluation of the surrounding landscape. In the case of Canberra, a ‘Picturesque’ landscape was achieved by damming the Molonglo River to create Lake Burley Griffin. But the ‘Picturesque’ was introduced much earlier than the creation of the lake. The first settlers planted clumps of English trees on the grassy flats at strategic picture-like points in an effort to make the countryside look more like that of England. This type of landscape can be found at Jerrabomberra Wetlands, Molonglo Reach, Grevillea Park, Kings Park Government House and along the foreshores of West Lake. The third aesthetic ideal found in on the foreshores of Lake Burley Griffin is that of the ‘Garden City’. Walter Burley Griffin’s design for Canberra was derived from the British/American ‘Garden City’ ideal, founded by Frederick Law Olmsted in New York, America, and fashionable in the 20th century. Griffin envisaged a beautifully landscaped city with grand avenue plantings and an abundance of parks and gardens. The beautiful ‘Garden City’ style parks, such as Commonwealth Park, Weston Park, Bowen Park and Lennox Gardens, make Lake Burley Griffin one of the most celebrated features of Canberra. Alissa Burch is the ivinner of the AG MS Sydney and Northern NSW Branch 1996 Student Award for a thesis on some aspect of garden or landscape history, completed as part of undergraduate studies. Alissa’s entry, titled 'A Garden Full of Promise: A Conservation Study of the 19th Century Landscape Character’, was undertaken for her degree course in Landscape Architecture. A condition of the award was to prepare an article for publication in Aus¬ tralian Garden History and Alissa’s article is published here. The Sydney and Northern NSW Branch congratulate Alissa on her entry and for being tbe first recipient of this Award. The Student Award is being offered again this year for students of NSW TAPE Colleges enrolled in Associate Diploma of Landscape or Associate Diploma of Park Man¬ agement during 1996 or some part of the past five years. Interested students should phone (02) 9428 5947 for com¬ petition conditiotrs. Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 17 GARDENS OF THE 1950 ’S JOCELYN BROWN’S GARDEN BOOK By HELEN PROUDFOOT Y arran, near Jondaryan in Queensland is one of the gardens to be visited during the AGHS Conference this month. The house Darrian (later re¬ christened Yarran) was built on a sub-divided block of Jondaryan Station (one of the first free selections taken up in the area after Governor Gipps declared in 1842 that ‘all set¬ tlers and other free persons shall be at liberty to proceed to the Darling Downs in like manner as to any other part of the Colony.’) A mammoth woolshed was built in 1859-60 to shear the 150,000 sheep which grazed the 62,700 ha of the property. It had 56 stands, and was a long, low and spa¬ cious T-shaped construction when built and was famous for being the largest shearing shed in Queensland. By the 1860s, Jondaryan was the largest freehold station in the state. Then wheat farming started to encroach on the pastures, taking advantage of the deep black soil. After World War II, the property was sub-divided for soldier set¬ tlers. The house Darrian (now called Yarran after the Yarran tree, an Acacia which grows prolifically in the paddocks) was built in 1950-51 by Lawrie and Lyn Rutledge, to a plan by a Sydney architect. They invited Jocelyn Brown to re-design their garden; she came to stay for a week or 10 days, so had time to study the locality and situation careful¬ ly. She was herself from Queensland; born at Maryborough and growing up near Warwick, so it must have been a plea¬ sure for her to return north and design the garden. The plan was drafted out, with its accompanying ‘Garden Book’ in the early 1950s. To have a ‘Garden Book’ of this sort has added immensely to the interest of the garden. This one is not dated or signed. It is in an exercise book, and runs to about ten pages. Though unsigned, the writing is indubitably Jocelyn Brown’s. She has illustrated it with working sketches related to the spaces on each side of the house; a terrace alongside the garage and staff room, long low beds for roses and low annuals, a border at a dividing wall, a shaped bed near the house at the top lawn, a curving border along the Lower Lawn Garden in front. These she has detailed in her sketches, indicating the places for particular plants and groups of plants; writing the names where they belong. As well she has listed the main plants to be used: eucalypts for planting outside the 1 ha (2.5 ac) of the garden boundary, roses to be added, background plants for tbe roses, garden trees and shrubs, annuals and phlox recommended, agapan- thus and red-hot pokers. She goes further: instruct- V ing her clients on the way to care for and propagate their plant material in the southern Queensland climate. She also lists Nurseries specialising in particular plants: Roy Rumsey for roses; Hazelwood Bros for other plants, Nindethana Nursery at Dripstone for euca¬ lypts, as well as offering cuttings from her own plant collection. SUGGESTED PLANTS Of special interest is her suggested list of eucalypts for out planting. The selected trees are mostly small growers and profusely flowering, many from Western Australia. They ^ include Eucalyptus macro- carpa, E. preisciana, E. torqua- ta, E. Krustana, E. crucis, E. erythrocorys, E. cinerea, E. caesia, E. lehmanii, E. ery- thronema, E. nicholii and E. citriodora. Flowering eucalypts had been popular when they became available from the thirties and forties, but Jocelyn had not used them much in her early gardens, relying, in Sydney, on the remaining stands of tall trees to provide a native backdrop to her designs, as at Greenwood, and Fountains. So her lavish use of flowering gums in the fifties in Queensland is interesting. Dell Hart, the current owner writes that the smaller trees have not sur¬ vived well - but she sends a photo of a koala perched in the branches of one of the outplanted trees. 18 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 Turning from eucalypts to roses, Jocelyn suggested a number of bush and floribunda roses to add to the existing planting. Her lists remind me of my mother’s garden, and include some of my favourites. Dainty Bess and China Doll, which are hard to come by now. As well as low eighteen inch standards of dwarf roses, she also suggests a wide variety of florihundas including Baby Faurax, Borderer, Shepherd’s Delight, Rosemary Rose and Mevrous van Straaten van Ness. Scented plants were very much part of her scheme and she suggested that the owners pave a semicircular area outside the doors of the sunroom where the grass does not grow. Plant a large woodett tidy with Heliotrope and Alyssum. Place in centre front of alternate windows on SE front, hi the other tubs plant hydrangeas, starting with Drawing Room window. Mignonette as spill-over. Remake violet beds in April - May. Take out all plants. Turn over soil thoroughly; manure if necessary. Replant young vigorous shoots only; discard coarse whiskery old ones or put in (an) out of the way part to increase again. Plant scented shrub - Murraya paniculata (Port wine) or rose climbing Cecile Brunner on SE side of wall. Scented shrub near seat against low wall at the corner of the building, brick paving beside the wall. Don’t allow the shrubs to grow much above the level of the wall. May be a Port Wine Magnolia; Murraya paniculata or rose Cecile Brumier. ADVICE FROM ‘GARDEN BOOK’ There is advice from the ‘Garden Book’ for the yearly planting program. Next autumn-winter transplant roses. Do away with the top bed and throw into lawn. Reshape lower bed of roses to conform to new long beds which includes the two grapefruit. Each time a new planting of annuals is made the roots from the hedge may be cut as deeply as possible...The hedge should be kept cut back to prevetit it encroaching on the border. A hedge, in general, should be cut in this shape to allow light to lower part and keep it clothed to the ground with foliage. This applies particularly to the Jasmine, but the banksia rose must be allowed throughout (as) its long grace¬ ful canes OJi which it blooms. After flowering, cut out old spent wood that has flowered to make room for the young new canes. It flowers on second year wood whereas other climbing roses throw out new shoots on which they flower in the same season. The ‘Garden Book’ is illustrated with diagrams through¬ out - garden layout, of particular plants and special corners. To an armchair gardener, it is tantalising to read the lists and instruction, and I envy the visitors when the garden is opened to view. Mrs Hart has included some fine pho¬ tographs to convey the feeling of the garden. The beds of lavender are there - the banks of agapanthus, the jasmine, the rose hedges. The out-garden, a luxury afforded to a country garden, is enlivened by flashes of blossom in Spring. And there are views through the garden to the wide plains of the Darling Downs. OTHER JOCELYN BROWN GARDENS FROM THE I950S A comparison is invited with two other gardens designed by Jocelyn Brown in the fifties: Coolihah near Young in central western NSW (owned by the Goodalls) and for a change in scale, 147 Livingstone Avenue in Pymble. Coolihah appears to have a similar character to Yarran, with a less tightly structured plan than her earlier gardens, and a form contained within large inter¬ locking curves. It also has a planted ‘out garden’ beyond the spaces around the house, where there is a small natural rocky mound which provides a vantage point (almost like an Elizabethan design, where a constructed mound overlooked the tightly designed and formally planted flat in front of the house - for example, at the Queen’s House, Kew Gardens). Yarran is also designed around a series of curving walks or lawns, and has a nice feeling of spatial progression. The fifties gardens appear to be more firmly based on curves, in a more flowing style, than her gardens of the forties, but all the same, at Yarran there is still an axis planned from the Drawing Room window out across the curving Lawn Walk to a bird bath, leading the eye outwards. Robin Lewarne has lately introduced me to another Jocelyn Brown garden designed in the fifties in Pymble, owned now by Sue and Warwick Cummings. This is a much smaller suburban garden, but bears the hallmark of Jocelyn’s style. The house was built late-Romantic, gabled two-story design, and set at an angle in the level block. The driveway is slightly curved, a circular lawn in front and a gently curving lawn area at the back. This is a tightly planted garden, which has developed and changed char¬ acter as circumstances surrounding the house have changed. The trees have grown taller and shrubs have expanded. Brick paths penetrate the garden beds, which are closely planted with shrubs and bulbs and overshadowed by the tree canopy, a problem in many North Shore gardens now. This means the original planting pattern, though still intact in broad principle, has lost many of its plants which need full sun at some time during the day. A bird bath is used as a focal point on the axis from a bay window. One added delight now is the presence of two Tawny Owls who live in the garden, resting on a high eucalypt in the daylight hours. Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 19 PROFILE LEWIS ADOLPHUS BERNAYS ~ BOTANIST, WRITER AND PUBLIC SERVANT By JEANNIE SIM L ewis Adolphus Bernays was a cultured, highly respect¬ ed gentleman of early Brisbane, who played a major role in the development of agriculture and horticulture in Queensland, among many other civic contributions. He was an amateur Botanist, when amateurs were leading the way with research in many fields of endeavour. Born in London on 3rd May 1831, he was the ‘youngest son of a Prussian gentleman, the late Dr. Adolphus Bernays, Professor of the German Lan¬ guage and literature in the King’s College, London.’ After receiving his education at King’s College, he worked in the laboratory of his elder brother, the eminent chemist and botanist. Dr. Albert James Bernays. At age 19, he left England to take up sheep farming in New Zealand, where he married Mary Anne Eliza Borton in 1851. From there, he went to Sydney, to begin his long career as a public servant, beginning in the offices of Sir Charles Nicholson, Speaker of the Legislative Council of NSW. With Nicholson’s recommenda¬ tion to Governor Bowen, Bernays took up the important appointment of Clerk to the Legislative Assembly of the new Colony of Queensland in February 1860. He held this posi¬ tion for over 47 years, until his death on 22 August 1908. Bernays’ contribution to the founding of Queensland is almost legendary, based on a deep knowledge of constitu¬ tional law and the processes of democratic government. His appointment as Companion of St. Michael and St George (C.M.G.) in 1892, would seem well deserved. However, L. A. Bernays was involved in many more facets of public life in early Queensland. He was a director of many companies, secretary in 1864, then member until at least 1900 of the Brisbane Board of Water Works, a trustee of the Brisbane Grammar School in the 1870s, and active in the diocesan affairs of the Anglican Church. Bernays was a man well respected and highly placed in colonial society. Yet, it is his role in garden history that is what interests us here. In 1862, he was one of the ‘originators’ of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society (QAS), holding offices as Honorary Secretary, President and Vice-President for many years, until he retired ‘because it exhausted nearly the whole of his spare time.’ The QAS were primarily concerned with introducing economically valuable and useful plants - mostly exotic but also exciting native Australian discoveries. Their botanic gardens at Bowen Park were renowned for both beauty and floristic wealth. Sadly, only a tiny remnant of these gardens exist today, located opposite the Royal Bris¬ bane Hospital in the suburb of Herston. The rest of the site is now occupied by the Royal National Association. But that’s another story. Bernays was involved with numerous other activities, including the Museum Board (1878-79), and the Royal Society of Queensland, and was a Fellow of both the Royal Geographic Society and the Linnean Society of London. He corresponded regularly ‘with the authorities of the Royal Gardens at Kew, London’ and was a corresponding member of the Royal Horticultural Society, London, and ‘of more than one of the great Indian Horticultural and Agricultural Societies.’ Bernays was also trustee of the Board of Management of the Bris¬ bane Botanic Gardens during the* 1880s, at a time when there was no curator or director, just Head Garden¬ ers. The office of the Government Botanist had been relocated to the Queensland Museum. But wait, there’s more. Bernays was described in 1900 as having ‘made a particular study of the history of plant life, and has particularly directed his attention to the commercial value and culture of plants in Queensland. ’ This keen interest in eco¬ nomic botany led to the publication of several important papers, including. The Olive and its Products (1872) and The Cultural Industries for Queensland - Papers on the cul¬ tivation of useful plants suited to the climate of Queensland: their value as food, in the arts, and in medicine, and methods of obtaining their products (1883). Among others, he delivered one paper to the QAS, entitled. The Duty of States in the Teaching of Science and Technology of Plant Life (23 April 1875). He also edited many of the first Annual Reports of the QAS, whose meetings were regularly reported in the local newspapers. From a garden historian’s point of view, Lewis Adolphus Bernays, the man with the lustrous name, presents a case of a life richly documented. Yet to date, only the scantiest biographies have been written and seemingly nothing of consequence about the Queensland Acclimatisation Society. The story of this man and the society he helped establish has yet to be written - and I for one, can’t wait to read it! REFERENCES: Lack, Clem (1969): “Lewis Adolphus Bernays.” In Nairn, N. B. et al (Eds): Australian Dictionary of Biography Volume 3: 1851-1890 A-C. Calton: Melbourne University Press, pg. 149 Queensland, 1900: A narrative of her past, together with Biographies of her leading Men. Brisbane: Alcazar Press, pg. 44 Pugh’s Almanac, 1872:114, 1877:362, 1880:418, 1885:14 & 384-385, 1887:125, 1890:107. Brisbane: Pughs Mather, Patricia (1986): A Time for a Museum: The History of the Queens¬ land Museum 1862-1986. “Memoirs of the Queensland Museum”. Vol 24. South Brisbane: Queensland Museum, pg. 284 “Death of Mr. L. A. Bernays, C.M.G., Historic Figure Removed”, in Bris¬ bane Courier, Monday 24 August 1908, pg. 5 20 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 COLLECTION: JOHN OXLEY LIBRARY. BRISBA GARDEN DESIGN IN THE WEST EDITH COLE By CAROLYN MIDDLEMIS E dith Cole was 24 years old and living in Perth when, in late 1934, she submitted several articles to The West Australian Gardener. She also advertised her services as a garden designer and is the first woman to do so in this publication. Prior to this. Miss Cole spent a year in Victoria working for Edna Walling. During her stay, she visited Melbourne gardens with Miss Walling and writes of her joy at wander¬ ing through these creations, describing the important use of structural elements in the garden design to provide year-round interest. Edith Cole returned to the West full of enthusiasm and set about establishing herself as a garden designer in Perth. There was a regular corre¬ spondence between Edna and Edith once the latter had returned to Perth. In March 1938, Edna writes asking if it is possible for Edith to join her once again, to help out during the planting season. As an assis¬ tant around Sonning (Walling’s home in Bickleigh Vale, Mel¬ bourne), Edith was to be employed chiefly in the office with also a little pot weeding work and ‘occasionally we should all go forth on rush planting jobs but there would be practically no heavy work, there are always men for that now.’ Although there was also correspondence from Edna’s colleague, Gwynnyth Crouch, it would appear from a letter dated July 1938 that Edith did not return to Melbourne as hoped. Edith Cole lived with her parents in Clayton Street, East Eremantlc when in June 1941, the Legislative Assembly Roll notes her departure, presumably due to marriage. An article by Edith Cole in The West Australian Gardener dated November 1, 1934 entitled ‘Some Gardens of Victoria’ details many Walling characteristics such as low stone walls, pergolas, stepping stones set in lawn and stone paved areas. During my recent 12 months in Victoria I was fortunate enough to make an inspection of some of Melbourne’s most delightful gardens, in company with Miss Edna Walling, one of that State’s foremost landscape architects and garden designers. On either side of the sweeping drive of one of the gardens we visited was massed numerous shrubs of white flowering spirea, which gave an effect all the year round, as the foliage turned various shades of red and amber during the autumn months. Stepping stones across a cool green lawn invited me to venture a little beyond...Lombardy poplars and Roman cypress, those stately sentinels, tvhich enhance the distinc¬ tion and charm of those wonderful old gardens of Spain and Italy, were seen, too, growing on either side of an entrance or garden gateway...a small pool played a prominent part in the design of another garden. Its shape was quite formal and was repeated in larger proportions with a low hedge of rose¬ mary a short distance away. In an article in The West Australian Gardener in April 1935 on ‘Shrubbery Lay-Out’, Cole writes of the need for a well-planned garden. Using a small corner as her focus, she encouraged the use of well- chosen plants which comple¬ ment each other through their colour and structure. The use of a Western Australian native plant Leschenaultia was also advocated. Edith continued to advertise in the magazine throughout 1935, but it is not yet known if she gained employment through her articles and advertisements. A life long friendship continued between Edith and Edna with letters going back and forth, continuing when Edna moved to Buderim in Queensland. Edna’s last undated letters from Buderim mention the possibility of republishing one of her books. You’ll be interested to hear that MacMillan the publish¬ ers are going to reprint my The Gardener’s Log in time (we hope) for Christmas, so lets hope it sells well. The jacket will be a coloured photo of Bendles garden. All other illus¬ trations will be fresh ones otherwise it will not be altered. If The Log sells well, the publishers will commission another edition of the book Gardens in Australia which is only avail¬ able 2nd hand and at $17. Edith (now Cameron) still lives in Perth and recalls her visit to Edna Walling, speaking of the large block of land where Walling lived, saying she also stayed there; Edna Walling’s mother; horseriding; and being left to pot up many plants. Your Garden . . . Plannid, Daiiinad or Ramedolltd You cm m«k* It t hiven of cool ihtd* and' Mcluilop. and ihrubi Indicated on claar and daeiilvf plinf, from which' you may eonitmct tHa garden younelf or leave the work to expert crifttmen. MISS EDITH COLE V Gardon Doaiinar 27 CLAYTON STRUT - lAIT TRIMANTUS Advertisement from April I 1935 issue of The West Australian Gardener. Mrs Elisabeth Morson of Castlecrag in Sydney grew up in the Edna Walling garden featured on the front of this Journal. Mrs Morson writes of Miss Walling: Our contact was in the very late '20s in our home with her transformatioft of the block ivitb cows and rabbits... After the war, she advised my sister in her little garden, using her trick with the hose to create natural lines for garden beds and lawn. The lawn tennis court at Churston had many uses including various hall games. After swimming, members of the Russian Ballet danced there and my father took movies. My guinea pigs lived there. During the War, there was a vegetable garden, hens and an air raid shelter! My mother just found her (Walling) entirely satisfying and she loved her garden deeply. Givynnyth Crouch was a very charming beautiful young woman. The tvhole creation seemed serene. Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 21 COLONIAL PLANTS THE GENUS BRACHYCHITON By GILES EDWARDS T he genus Brachychiton provides many spectacular feature trees for parks, large gardens or street planting that it is a wonder that they are so little used, especially in public areas where a stunning outline tree could flourish. Roundabouts, cemeteries, parks, common properties of unit buildings would be greatly enhanced by the sturdy trunk and outlines of a Brachychiton. ILLAWARRA FLAME TREE Probably the most spectacular species is Brachychiton acerifoliiwi, the Illawarra Flame tree which in Sydney gardens is often teamed with Grevillea robusta or Jacaranda mimosaefolia for a brilliant red-yellow-purple show in November. In the wild, Brachychiton acerifolinm can reach 35 metres in open sites or in coastal rainforest gullies from the Illawarra, NSW to Rockingham Bay in Queensland. In culti¬ vation (like all other species in the genus) heights are much reduced, in this case 25 metres, provided a rich moist non calcareous soil is available. In nature, the tree deciduates in Spring and in November - December brilliant fireman red flowers about 1.5cm in diameter are borne in large, loose panicles. The effect is fiery and outstanding, giving rise to the common name of Flame Tree. In cultivation however, the species is variable in its flowering habits: often it will take 6-7 years to flower, sometimes even 10-12 years; sometimes the tree will be partially deciduous, weakening the effect of the red bell-flowers; some¬ times a good flowering will occur only in alternate years. For the home gardener it is recom¬ mended to plant a grafted specimen to ensure quicker flowering and more certain floral display each year. The beauty of this tree is not confined to the November flower display, as the stout tapering trunk has decoratively streaked grey bark. The soft timber, although thought to be commercially useless has been used for plywood, model making and hat blocks, according to K.R. Bootle notes in Commercial Timbers Grown in NSW. The black 15cm seed pods are always of interest to children for hollowed out boats; or even treated with glitter for Christmas decorations. As the specific name implies, the leaves reminded the early settlers of the maple. They are a rich green, 5-7 lobed when young, becoming 3-lobed in older trees. For the home garden, they can prove messy as they are fibrous and diffi¬ cult to break down. The full beauty of the Illawarra Flame tree was quickly appreciated by early commentators who encountered ‘a noble and gorgeous sight calculated to impress the most phlegmatic person with the beauty of our flora. In its native habitats it is best looked upon from an eminence, and the contrast between the flame looking mass of a comparatively large tree and the more or less sombre foliage of all other trees never fails to arrest attention’. (J.FI. Maiden, Forest Flora of NSW, 1922, vol VII). For anyone living in Dorrigo, NSW, where Maiden records it as ‘moder¬ ately plentiful’ he tantalises ‘A very fine specimen was seen in the Glenferrie Forest Reserve, near the pine mill”. QUEENSLAND LACEBARK TREE Not quite as showy as the Illawarra Flame, but with larger bell shaped pink flowers (3cm x 2cm) is Brachychiton discolor, the Queensland lacebark. Again, the stout straight trunk is a subtle and dramatic feature of this tree. Also partly deciduous, it has 3-lobed maple-like leaves of matt green and woolly underneath (hence the name ‘Discolor’ owing to the different leaf colour above and below). Similar to Brachychiton acerifolinm, it deciduates before flowering which is January to March and puts on a particu¬ larly fine show in drier weather. Naturally, it occurs in dry scrub and rainforest areas from the mid-north coast of NSW to Mackay in Queensland to a height of 25 metres (to 20 metres in cultivation). It has proven a very hardy specimen and deserves much greater cultivation where its felty pink carpeting flowers can be seen to advantage. LITTLE KURRAJONG TREE Less well known is Brachychiton hidwillii, the Little Kur- rajong, which is rarely grown in gardens for it is a fine and adaptable plant. Its natural range is on rocky slopes to simpler rainforest systems of SE Queensland. Reaching a maximum of 5 metres, its size makes it most gardenworthy and its waxy pink-red flowers appear after leaf-drop. Unlike other Brachychitons, it will flower at an early age and will accept wetter, cooler and more fertile situations than its natural environment. It is also drought tolerant and should not be overlooked by the nursery indus¬ try for an interesting small and shapely native tree for small gardens and courtyards. BOTTLE TREE To further prove the diversity of the genus there is the Bottle Tree, Brachychiton rnpestris from Queensland. One of the most architectural of all trees, its distinctive Perrier water bottle trunk can reach a girth of 6-10 metres and a height of 7-16 metres. As a landscaping item, it would serve well as a street tree to rival the avenues of palms or ficus in our main cities for its scaly bark, compact habit and toler¬ ance of well drained sandy or stony soil. Even on these poor sites early height growth can be rapid (Brown Hall) and its distinctive swollen trunk could be imaginatively used along roads, paths and allees. In country areas, both leaves and porous heartwood have been cut up for emergency feed for stock. Maiden in his Forest Flora of NSW gives a detailed account of its 22 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 Septeinber/October 1996 AUSTRALIAN PLANTS IN ENGLAND preparation for stock feed and notes that the aborigines of Queensland also used the large fleshy roots for food. Amaz¬ ingly, early settlers found that parts of the Bottle tree boiled in water rendered an excellent starch for clothes. As a bush survival food. Maiden in his Useful Native Plants records that the ‘stem abounds in a mucilaginous substance resembling pure tragacanth, which is wholesome and nutritious.’ The aboriginal tribes would hollow the trunks to trap and reserve water and even underneath these water reser¬ voirs a ‘sweet Mucilaginous juice’ was trapped and ‘almost, if not all, the Brachychiton are used by the aborigines for fishing nets’. (Thozet). KURRAJONG TREE By far the most neglected yet useful and adaptable member of the family must be the Kurrajong, Brachychiton popnlneum. I am continually amazed that this wonderful shapely tree is not use more in home gardens, street and park planting, for its talents are so multifarious. Chiefly it is a good, small, drought resistant tree (to 15 metres) with the .ability to withstand hot summers and light frosts in areas of ’moderate rainfall. In spring, the fresh green leaves cover the tree and provide a good shady crown for man and beast. The leaves vary from poplar-shaped to deeply lobed while the flowers are a subtle cream-green bell shape streaked with orange on the inside. The flowers appear any time from March through to Summer and are followed by 8cm long pods containing the typically hairy seeds of the genus. The seeds are quite nutritious and contain 18% protein, 25% fat and were roasted by the abo¬ rigines. The young roots of both the Kurrajong and Bottle Tree were also used as bush tucker. The fibrous bark was steeped and the resulting fibre was used for nets and twine, indeed the very word ‘Currajong’ is aborigi¬ nal for ‘fibrous plant’. Given its tolerance of rocky, sandy loams and even cal¬ careous soils and also its wide distribution from south-east Queensland to north-east Victoria, it seems inexplicable that there are not more of this sturdy shapely tree grown. Many a farmer knows the Kurrajongs value as an emergency fodder tree in times of drought as the outer branches can be lopped and it will regrow rapidly to resume its function as an excellent shade tree. In a charming article in The Sydney Morning Herald 2nd February, 1908, it was compared to the camel or date palm for its hardiness in inhospitable terrain. ‘When the whole of the surrounding country has wilted and withered, when the last vestige of herbage has passed into the impalpable elements of the atmosphere, and the earth is rent and blistered by the pressure of a prolonged drought, the Kurrajong may be seen flourishing’. The author laments its wholesale destruction with the result that ‘hun¬ dreds of miles of country once covered in the hilly parts with the Kurrajong is now almost entirely denuded.’ 1908 must have been the Kurrajong Appreciation Year, as the Sydney Morning Herald also carried an article in 15th June on ‘The Value of the Kurrajong’ whose advice (and lament) is still valid 90 years on. In different parts of the country the Kurrajong has once more demonstrated its great economic value during periods of drought...lt is amazing in view of the fact that this tree is a good fodder plant, that stock eat it with avidity, even to the pulpy branches and that it flourishes in its lush greenness year in and year out, independent of drought, and is a pro¬ lific agent in the generation of moisture - that more atten¬ tion is not given to the care and culture of this natural resister of aridity. Countless thousands of trees have been destroyed because people could not see far enough ahead to realise what they were doing, or were indifferent as to the future. If only people ivoitld learn from experience - bitter and ruinous in many cases - and take a common sense view of the matter, we should have extensive cultivation of the Kurrajong instead of neglect and, often positive ivanton destruction. The landscape and heritage value of this highly versatile genus is in terrible danger of being lost as closer settle¬ ment makes such combinations as the Illawarra Flame, Jacaranda and Silky Oak untenable for smaller housing blocks. But what a sight a well-placed and spaced avenue of these trees would make every November in public parks and gardens or in large open spaces. For smaller gardens, B. bidwillii or B. populneum would be more suited. Given the genus’ wide adaptability from desert to temperate rain forest conditions, from rocky soils to richer loam, the Brachychi- tons should rank with the Araucarias as an outstanding imprint on our skylines. BIBLIOGRAPHY J. W. Aud.ns, Natii’e Trees of Australia Whitcornbe & Tombs 1934 George Ilentbam assisted by I'crdiiiand von Mueller, Flora Australiensis, Vol 1, Lovell Sc Reeve & Co. 1863. (p, 227) A. Rrown & N. Hall, Growing Trees on Australian Farms, Dept, of National Development 1968, Canberra Govt. Printer. K. R. Rootle, Cominereial Timbers Grown in NSW, Angus 6c Robertson, 1971 (p. 209) Tliistle Y. Harris, Wihiflowers of Australu, Angus 8c Robertson, 1938 Leon Costermans, Native Trees ami Shrubs ofS.E. Australia, Rigby 1983 I. Holliday 6c R. Hill, TiclJ Guide to Australian Trees, Rigby Books, 1979 David Jones, Onhvncntal Rainforest Plants in Australia, Reed, 1986 Tim Low, Wild Food Plants of Australia, Angus 6C Robertson, 1988 j..\I. Maiden, Forest Flora of NSW, Govt. Printer, Vol. VII, 1922 H 6c N Nicbolson, Tropical Rainforest Plants, Vol I and II, 1985 and 1988 THE GENUS BRACHYCHITON Family: Sterculaccae 31 species, 12 endemic to Australia. Chiefly tropical habitat, though some species range into Central Australia desert areas. Most species are notable for their lacy bark and there is a species for most soils and conditions throughout Australia. The generic name Brachychiton comes from the Greek ‘Brachy’ - short and ‘chiton’ - chain mail tunic from the honeycomb-like seed coating left in pod when seeds have dropped. Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 23 THE BOOKSHELF Reviews by TREVOR NOTTLE A PHOTOGRAPHIC GARDEN HISTORY by Roger Phillips and Nicky Foy Published Macmillatj, London, 1 995 320pp, colour Ulus. RRP $60.00 THE GARDENS AT FILOLI by Timmy Gallagher (Photo Christopher McMahon) Published Pomegranate Books, San Franciso, 1994 128pp, pictorial essay RRP $60.00 THE VILLAS OF PLINY. FROM ANTIQUITY TO POSTERITY by Pierre de la Ruffiniere du Prey Published University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1994 378pp, colour and h/w Ulus. RRP $120.00 THE COLLECTOR’S GARDEN, DESIGNING WITH EXTRAORDINARY PLANTS by Ken Druse Published Thames and Fhidson, London, 1996 248pp, numerous colour Ulus. RRP $75.00 A friend has written from Greece to chide me gently for my enthusiasm for the book by Derek Jarman about his garden at Prospect Cottage as expressed in this column last time. ‘Just look at the pictures of himself. They are all posed. The whole garden is posed; it’s an image that he wants us to impress on us.’ I have to admit that my pen friend is right. But what of it? The ideas expressed by the garden are still powerful and forthright; perhaps they need to call a halt to our retrospective meanderings among garden styles from the past. The garden as a stage for new ideas - I don’t have a problem with that; striking a pose, taking a position, creating a scene; all seem legitimate means by which to grab our attention and challenge our thinking. Roger Phillips book A Photographic Garden History presents a whole world of garden theatre for us to enjoy. As a survey of garden design across the centuries it provides an excellent introduction. What I particularly enjoy about Phillip’s books is that he usually manages to find a new ‘angle’ for us to consider; in this case the inclusion of the Bi Shu Shuan Zhuang landscaped park near Chengde in China is the highlight for me. There is also a short but very inter¬ esting section on modern sculpture gardens. Full marks for the four page soliloquy on the gardens at Little Sparta made by the sculptor Ian Hamilton Finlay near Lanark in Scot¬ land. Within the compass of his book, Mr Phillips manages to cover the major influences on European garden design from the Romans onwards, and to give his readers a useful introduction to the garden styles of China and Japan. With over 900 colour photographs to illustrate the traditions which lie behind our garden making the book will find many appreciative readers. My only (small) disappointment was that the author did not include any Modernist or post- Modern designs. From his other books we know that Roger Phillips gets around in the horticultural world but it seems he hasn’t yet got as far as South America and the work of Roberto Burle Marx. Perhaps this is a small ‘bit’ part on the stage of world history but it is one that shouldn’t be relegat¬ ed to being one of the ‘voices off’. As a backdrop for a gracious living one could hardly ask for a more impressive set than the gardens of ‘Filoli’. Indeed, it is so splendid that it was used as one of the major loca¬ tions for filming ‘Dallas’ - a soap opera about the lives of the extremely rich and very famous. The photographic essay The Gardens at Filoli shows us a stunning garden, now maintained by the National Trust for l listoric Preservation, of a kind that only very significant amounts of money can create. Built by successive millionaire owners in a secluded valley south of San Francisco the gardens were designed on traditional Anglo-European lines. The design by Bruce Porter, and the planting by Bella Worn have been enlarged, replanted and enriched but borrowed features such as the Dutch Garden, the Sunken Garden, the Bowling Green, the Yew Allee and the Chatres Garden all draw heavily on 19th century romanticism. This is not to say that the garden is dull or wanting in imagination. It has several outstanding features. These are the clipped columns of Yew which' enclose the swimming pool in an enfilade and a number of beautifully ‘sculpted’ olive trees clipped into drums that are also part of the same garden. The transparent quality of these, together with the silver shades of the leaves and the bark set against a dark background are a truly unique feature. The book also gives very strong evidence of the high standards of horticultural skill which enable the garden to be maintained, and there is much evidence of imaginative plant use. All in all, Filoli is a most theatrical piece of garden design, maybe not cutting edge stuff, but no doubt still able after more than seventy years to offer gardeners one or two fresh ideas. After more than 2000 years it might be wondered whether or not the ideas expressed by Gains Plinius Caecil- ius Secundus have anything to offer us concerning garden design. In The Villas of Pliny, from antiquity to posterity Pierre de la Ruffiniere du Prey has written a most convincing essay that Pliny the Younger has had, and continues to have a very considerable impact on architecture and through it on the relationship between house and garden. While few, if any gardens other than that at the Paul Getty Museum at Malibu in California have been made this century on Roman models the ideas are, none the less, important as we ponder how to link house, garden and lifestyle in a warm, dry climate. True, this book won’t have instant appeal to those who like picture books, or ‘how to’ books or even plantspersons books about gardening, but for students of garden design and landscape architecture there should be much to chal¬ lenge and stimulate creative thought. In particular the exten¬ sive survey of proposals and ideas based on Pliny’s descrip¬ tive texts of his Laurentian and Tuscan villas and their gardens from the 19th century onwards make this book worthwhile for designers. 1 would not be surprised if it were also found to be exciting. As a stage for living, Pliny’s villas must have been comfortable, designed in accord with their setting and to suit the lifestyle of their owner. An ideal to 24 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 DATES FOR THE DIARY which many garden designers in Australia could surely aspire? The garden as a stage for living is but one idea. What about the garden as a stage for plants? Now there is an idea which more gardeners will probably relate to, and find attractive. Ken Druse’s book The Collector’s Garden, subti¬ tled Designing with Extraordinary Plants brings plants to the fore to re-assert the idea that collections of plants, preferably rare plants, are sufficient in themselves to create gardens that are satisfying, interesting and creative. That this is so cannot be doubted, at least as far as other plant collectors go. However from the ‘evidence’ set out by the chapters and illustrations of his book I am not certain that Mr Druse is convincing about designing with collectors special plants. Several friends, all plant collectors I must admit, all pounced on the book when they saw it on my table and admired it. It is a very luscious book; the illustrations of hundreds of previously unknown ‘goodies’ are to plant col¬ lectors like sweets in a lolly shop to children; we simply must have more of them, all of them would not be too many for some of us. The author is frank and amusing about his purpose describing the various people mentioned in his book as hunters, missionaries, specialists and aesthetes. And then there are the photographs. After seeing the likes of Cypripedium henryi, Arisaema griffithii or Dispo- ntm smithii ‘Rick’, who among us would not be tempted? Ken Druse certainly knows his stuff; an array of Trillium, Hosta, Asarum, Hetichera, Clematis, ferns and yet more Arisaema are paraded for our delectation, verily the treasure store of American plant collectors. But of design there seems little. And maybe that’s appropriate for one so heavily involved in collecting. The display is secondary to the act itself. And that is not to say that the book doesn’t offer through its illustrations some excellent design ideas using very theatrical and dramatic plants. It’s just that Mr Druse doesn’t provide us with much thoughtful commentary on the matter. As a survey of plantsmen (and women) of the United States of America this is an excellent book; as a cheap-book on what is new, rare and lovely in the world of plants it is comprehensive, and as a photographic essay it is (superb. Is this not enough then to act as an inspiration to filling in our designs with good plants? I think so (though even a keen plantsperson finds an index handy). But then I am a plant collector, something of a plant hunter, and a mis¬ sionary, and I fancy, may even be regarded by some as mildly aesthetic, so 1 could be just a touch biased in my role- play as reviewer. JOURNAL DEADLINE FOR COPY AND ADVERTISING Nov/Dec issue: Deadline 25 September. Sydney Botanic Garden celebrations. ADVERTISING RATES 1/8 page 1/4 page 1/2 page full page $120 (2 or more issues $110) $200 (2 or more issues $180) $300 (2 or more issues $250) $500 (2 or more issues $450) SPRING PLANT SALE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS MELBOURNE SATURDAY 12-SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER Thousands of plants will be offered for sale in the grounds of the Old Melbourne Observatory in Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra. Plants will include many propagated from the Royal Botanic Gardens - rare and unusual as well as favourites. Enquiries: (03) 9650 6398 MUELLER WALK ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS MELBOURNE 22. 26 & 29 SEPTEMBER AND 8 & 10 OCTOBER To coincide with the 100th anniversary of Mueller’s death and the Mueller Conference the Voluntary Guides at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, have developed a new walk. In Memory of Mueller, Australia’s greatest botanist. This free walk explores Baron Ferdinand von Mueller’s scientific achievements, his exploratory trips col¬ lecting plants within Australia and his place in the society of mid to late 19th century Melbourne. Bookings (03) 9252 2370. FLOWERFEST ‘96 & EVERGLADES GARDEN SHOW BLUE MOUNTAINS 18-21 OCTOBER Everglades in the Blue Mountains of NSW is to celebrate its 60th Anniversary to honour Paul Sorensen for his garden design. Considered among Sorensen’s most outstanding garden, Everglades is currently undergoing a refurbishment with both house and garden being restored to its former glory. Leading Australian garden designers will participate with displays, alongside displays of garden furniture, statuary, rose arbours, garden architecture, nurseries and floral designers. Enquiries: (02) 9907 6575 THE WORLD IN A GARDEN BOXFORD, CANBERRA OCTOBER 5-6 1996 Boxford garden in Canberra has six different styles of garden designs from six parts of the world and is a Heritage garden of the National Trust. Created by Polly and Peter Park, the garden will be open at 21 Scarborough Street in Red Hill from 10am-4.30pm. GARDEN ENQUIRY DENDENONG Grandberry in Back Road, Sherbrooke, Victoria was designed by Edna Walling in 1935. The garden plan is being sought for restoration work and history research being undertaken by the owners, Terrie and Graeme Smith (03) 9755 1691. The garden was designed for William and Elsie Thomas. Any information, photos or assistance in locating the plan would be appreciated. Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 25 CALENDAR OF EVENTS SEPTEMBER_ MONDAY 23 - WEDNESDAY 25 Q’LD: Pre-Conference Tour of south east Queensland gardens. FRIDAY 27 - SUNDAY 29 Q’LD: National Conference, Toowoomba. Embracing Paradise: Temperate Traditions Meet the Tropics — garden visits and stimulating range of lectures. SATURDAY 28 Q’LD: AGM at Toowomba MONDAY 30 Q’LD: Optional day with bus transport avail¬ able to Brisbane airport by 4pm. OCTOBER_ SUNDAY 6 NSW: Open Day at Hillview, Sutton Forest, NSW. House and Garden Open. Entry $4.00. This is an oppor¬ tunity to see the improvement in the garden following major tree surgery-. 10am - 4pm. Enquiries: (048) 362 122 SUNDAY 20 ACT/NSW Launch of historic booklet on Mt Elrington, Braidwood, in garden. SATURDAY 26 - SUNDAY 27 NSW Coolah Country Garden Tour. Visit six country and two town gardens for $10. Proceeds to fund a streetscape plan for Binna Street, Coolah. ENQUIRIES Brochure, map and accommodation -Jill White (063) 774531 or Jan Gluskie (02) 9428 5947. NOVEMBER FRIDAY I - SUNDAY 3 NSW Blue Mountains. Parks, Gardens and Cemeteries Seminar co-sponsored by AGHS, National Trust and Blue Mountains Council. PROGRAMME: FRIDAY I Conservation and management of historic proper¬ ties, Parks and Cemeteries for Local Government Offi¬ cers and managers of historic properties. COST $60 Includes seminar papers, lunch and teas. VENUE Blue Mountains Council Chambers, Katoomba. ENQUIRIES Stewart Watters (02) 9258 0123. SATURDAY 2 Researching and managing historic gardens - for garden owners and lovers. COST $40 Includes seminar papers, lunch, teas. ENQUIRIES Nance Cooper (047) 592 647 or Stewart Watters (02) 9258 0123. SUNDAY 3 Garden visits to private gardens at Mt Wilson including lunch at Sefton Cottage (1pm) and visit to Wynstay (2pm), a property with spectacular views and many rare trees. A presentation will be made by the AGHS of a recently repaired urn, one of a pair made by Goodlet & Smith, Sydney at the turn of the century. COST $10 for lunch - bookings essential. ENQUIRIES Jan Gluskie (02) 9428 5947 SUNDAY 17 NSW - Viewing of three gardens in the Robert- son/Kangaloon area of Southern Highlands: Robert and Sandra Wallis garden at Old Kangaloon Road, Robert¬ son, Robin Donnelly garden at East Kangaloon for lunch and Richard and Helen Rowe, Laureldale at Robertson. 10.30am at Wallis garden. Enquiries: (048) 864417 (048)362122. SATURDAY 23 ACT - Champagne and Roses with Peter Cox, heritage rose authority, at Tuggeranong Homestead, Canberra. DECEMBER_ FRIDAY 6 S.A.: Christmas drinks at Wittunga, Blackwood. SUNDAY 8 NSW Sydney. Annual Christmas party/picnic for members and friends. VENUE Strickland House, 52 Vaucluse Road, Vaucluse. TIME 4.30pm BYO picnic. Meet on the lawn on the harbour side of the house. WINTER 1997_ CANBERRA A series of four lectures on the history and meaning of gardens will be given by Professor Ken Taylor and Dianne Firth from the University of Canber¬ ra. ENQUIRIES Virginia Berger (06) 295 2330 AUSTRALIAN GARDEN HISTORY SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP DETAILS I/we wish to become a member of the Australian Garden History Society and enclose my/our subscription. Name(s) Address Telephone: Home ( ) Subscription Rates (Please tick) □ Ordinary Member or Institutional Subscription $38 0 3 year Ordinary Membership $105 D Family Member (2 adults and 2 children) $48 D 3 year Family Member $135 CH Corporate Member $60 O 3 year Corporate Member $160 CH Youth Rate (25 years and under) $20 O Donation $ Cheque/Money Order enclosed: Please make cheques out to the Australian Garden History Society Please debit my credit card: EH Bankcard EH Visacard EH Mastercard Card No.nnnn □□□□ □□□□ □□□□ Expiry date Cardholders signature The Society is affiliated with the Australian Council of National Trusts and is thereby able to benefit from Trusts’ tax deductible status. ’’Donations are welcome and should be made payable to the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and forwarded to the AGHS. Membership benefits Australian Garden History, the Society’s official journal, sLx times a year. Garden related seminars, lectures, garden visits and specialist tours. Opportunity to attend annual conference and conference tour. Contributing to the preservation of historic gardens for prosperity. AGHS Office, Royal Botanic Gardens, Birdwood Ave, South Yarra, Vic. 3141 Ph/Fax (03) 9650 5043 Toll Free 1800 67 8446 THIS FORM CAN BE PHOTOCOPIED SO THAT THE JOURNAL CAN BE RETAINED INTACT. State Postcode 0 ) Business ( ) 26 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 NATIONAL AND BRANCH NEWS NATIONAL NATIONAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE The June meeting of the NMC was held in Melbourne and attended by Chairman, Margaret Darling; Fairie Nielsen; Sally Darling; Jan Gluskie; Helen Page; Virginia Herger; Leslie Lockwood, Jackie Courmadias (Executive Officer) and Trisha Dixon (Editor). Next meeting will be held on Thursday 26 September at 11am in Brisbane at Old Government House. AGM - TOOWOOMBA SATURDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2pm University of Southern Queens¬ land, Toowoomba, Queensland. All members are invited to attend. Seddon will inform delegates about many aspects of the cultural climate in which the first senlers to this region found themselves. They will also discuss the changes in this cultural climate from the first settlement to the present time. What were the conflicts they wrestled with when the caring hand of nature deserted them season after season? Was their belief that they had come to live in paradise ever permanently tarnished? And why were they passionate about the concept of living in paradise? Fol¬ lowing his paper, Professor Seddon will ask other speakers and the delegates to join him in a panel discussion to further explore the ideas he will postulate regarding our concepts in Western culture of ‘Eden, Paradise, Arcadia and Utopia.’ See you in Queensland. Jatt Seto Early photo of Franklyn Vale, settled in the 1840s and still held by the same family. TOURS Bunya Bunya Pines at Franklyn Vale, one of the historic gardens to be visited during the Queensland Conference. 1996 QUEENSLAND CONFERENCE - TOOWOOMBA 27-30 SEPTEMBER As you read this, last minute arrangements are being made for the annual conference in Southern Queensland later this month. It’s not ^oo late tt) organise to come north for a Garden History Conference which will pre.sent you with a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the important historic gardens of this region as a group and resplen¬ dent from winter rains. Toowoomba itself will be alive with the colours of Spring for its annual Carnival of Flowers. Our confer¬ ences are rarely able to collaborate with larger garden events such as this. All round, this should be a conference not to be missed. The weather has been kind to us. The gardens have received good winter rains, something that rarely happens in this area of Australia. I’ve received a number of phone calls from overjoyed owners to tell me what they can now plant in preparation for our visit. The bones of these old gardens arc always there for us to enjoy but to be able to add the finishing touches is a luxury that the seasons do not always make available. We will be able to wander through these gardens and ponder the insights which Professor George Seddon will have challenged us to think about when he gives the final paper to the Saturday speakers session. I’rofessor Seddon begins his paper with the notion that ‘Decisions and choices about gardens are not made in a vacuum. They are culturally meditated.’ The speakers preceding Professor TASMANIA TUESDAY 2,STH FEBRUARY TO SUNDAY 2ND MARCH 1997 Fairie Nielsen’s knowledge of Tasmanian gardens and her inimitable personality promise to make the February tour of Tasmanian gardens a rare treat! Five days of gardens such as Dunedin, Woolmers, Connorville, Culzean, Winton, Dclmont, Symonns Plains, Kaponica and Egleston without the inconvenience of chang¬ ing motels each night. Accommodation for the entire tour will be in the one Motor Inn in Launceston, which is in close vicinity to the many gardens being visited. Bookings and enquiries: Jackie Courmadias, Phone/fax (03) 9650 5043 or toll free 1800 678 446. ASSISTANCE WITH JOURNAL PACKING Thanks to Margaret Darling, Helen Page, Di Ellerton, Marika Kocsis, Jane Bunney, Beryl Black, John McDonald, Georgina Whitehead and John Joyce for thier assistance with p.acking the last journal. Also my thanks to Helen Page who so thoroughly proofed the Journal copy. Two members, Kirsten MacRoberts and Morton Kaveney are currently working on a Journal index to be available in April 1997. Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996 27 HISTORY IN THE MAKING THE LADY IN WHITE By Jo REID T his is the story of the lady on the front of the Australian Garden History Society brochure. Who was she? Elizabeth Watkin of Belmont, an historic holding in the Beaufort area of Victoria. Elizabeth’s granddaughter, Jo Reid unveils the story behind the photograph. Does a photograph tell the truth? In ret¬ rospect, the tale told most truly is the drift of the years. I have known the four people in the photo; but my children only knew the little boy who became their wise and gentle Grandpa. Max, that little boy standing by, continued to stand by all that he loved - his family, his heritage, his community - throughout his long life. What of the self-contained woman con¬ fronting the photographer? Did he emerge from under the black cloth to suggest an arm akimbo, or is that slightly defiant pose her own? My grandmother, Elizabeth, was married in 1899 ‘attired in a stylish The Lady in White gown of brown amazon cloth, with hand¬ some braiding and cerise trimming; a toreador hat to match completed the costume.’ ‘Amazon cloth’...toreador hat’...the symbolism is right. My grandmother was a strong woman, a fighter for a cause, and the causes she espoused were all con¬ cerning the welfare of women and children. Elizabeth was a foundation member of the CWA, was active in the Red Cross and unobtrusively administered a local Benevolent Fund for many years. A neighbour, one of a family of ten, con¬ fided to me recently, ‘If it had not been for Mrs Watkin and the parcels that she brought, we would have had no clothes to wear.’ During the 1950s, my grandmother campaigned tirelessly, driving the efforts of a fund-raising committee to establish what became the Elizabeth Watkin Kindergarten Belmont garden almcsi a century Elizabeth enjoyed the heyday of Belmont. I think she was much occupied with preserving fruit and vegetables in season, drying apples strung on lines in the attic, bottling peaches and pears, making sauces, pickles and jams. My grandmother used the garden for her enjoyment. I do not remember seeing her foot on a spade or her hand on a trowel, but she regularly ‘did the flowers’. The hall, parlour dining-room table , even the kitchen were never without their vases of fresh flowers. She took baskets of flowers to Beaufort for all occasions. She herself never went to Beaufort without a shoulder spray adorning her lapel - the pink spotted lilium being much favoured. As a young woman, Elizabeth indulged in oil painting; subjects were often flowers and fruit. There are screens featuring dahlias; hydrangeas, wallflowers, japonica, holly, wisteria, lilac, foxgloves, grapes and Blue Diamond plums. My grandmother held sway over the household for another nineteen years after her husband Louis died in 1942. The garden was maintained by my father in such time as he could spare from working a farm which no longer employed outside labour. And what of the others in the photo on the brochure? The girl on the swing graduat¬ ed from the Conservatorium as a pianist. She married early so did not pursue a career in music, but throughout her life she delight¬ ed friends and family with her playing oi^ the Bechstein grand at musical eveningi^^ Louis, the father in this picture (Elizabeth’s husband) was a gardener at heart. He had grown up tending the vineyards at Belmont and later the apple and pear orchards. Handicapped by rheumatism, he spent his latter years working in the garden. I remem¬ ber cosmos and gallardias from those days, and as a little girl of six, I would share a fig that he cut with his pocket knife as he rested from his labours in the vegetable garden. Eighty-six years have passed since that photograph was taken. The limb that holds the swing grew great in age. Enfeebled and threatening the garden, the tree was removed in a costly operation partially funded by the Australian Garden History Society in 1991. The lavender bush is still there, the cannas have migrated a few yards to the^^ east, and the Duchesse de^^ Brabant survives, lifting gentle pink roses up through the tangle. Cerise scrambling peas whose pods are silhouetted in the foreground, comes up where it will, and foxgloves continue to sow themselves annually, as they may still do later, from the same viewpoint when I am but a memory of a grandchild. The Victorian branch has a strong attachment to Belmont and conducts working bees regularly there. These working bees commenced several years ago and many of us were privileged to know Max and his wife Lorna before their deaths in 1993. Details of future working bees can be obtained from the office. 28 Print Post No. 345842/00168 Australian Garden History, Vol 8 No 2 September/October 1996