To my husband, Charles Raskob Robinson,
my partner in our garden,
and to our sons, Charles and Torrance,
who as young boys both worked so hard in it.
First published in 2012 by
DAVID R. GODINE Publisher
Post Office Box 450
Jaffrey, New Hampshire 03452
www.godine.com
Copyright 2012 by Barbara Paul Robinson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief extracts embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information contact Permissions, David R. Godine, Publisher, Fifteen Court Square, Suite 320, Boston Massachusetts 02108.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Robinson, Barbara Paul.
Rosemary Verey : the life & lessons of a
legendary gardener / by Barbara Paul Robinson.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-56792-450-3 ISBN 1-56792-450-6
1. Verey, Rosemary. 2. GardenersEnglandBiography.
3. GardensDesign. I. Title.
SB63.V37R63 2012
635.092241dc23
2011053541
HARDCOVER ISBN: 978-1-56792-450-3
EBOOK ISBN: 978-1-56792-486-2
INTRODUCTION
Rosemary Verey
My Boss, My Mentor, My Friend
R OSEMARY VEREY was my boss, and later she became my teacher, my mentor, and my special friend. My husband, Charlie, will tell you that she changed my life. I went to work for her in her famous garden at Barnsley House, in Gloucestershire, England, in the spring of 1991 when she was seventy-two years old and at the height of her powers. She came to gardening late in her life, a self-taught amateur who became internationally renowned as a garden designer, plantswoman, and writer. By the time I met her she was the must have garden designer for the rich and famous, not only in England, but around the world. Her clients included Prince Charles and Elton John. Even the Japanese, with their distinct gardening aesthetic, enlisted her to design an English-style garden for the Hankyu Department Store in Osaka. Her own beautiful garden, Barnsley, in the heart of the Cotswolds, was a mandatory stop on every garden tourists itinerary. More than 30,000 visitors per year came by the busloads from as far away as Japan and Australia. She was particularly popular in America where an interest in gardening was burgeoning. Appreciative audiences flocked to her lectures, and her eighteen books were best-sellers, especially in the States.
The moment was right for Rosemary to revive the English romantic style after decades of deprivation following the two world wars. Economic hardship and lack of skilled gardening labor led to what some would describe as the nadir of British gardening, with its emphasis on low maintenance ground covers. Instead, using her garden as her classroom, she re-introduced classical garden designs, favoring formal structures, planting knot gardens and using hedges and box balls. Being a superb plantswoman, she embellished formal outlines with exuberant flower borders maintained to perfection, creating beautiful pictures by using harmonious color combinations and a mix of textures. Her famous potager was based on the grand gardens at Villandry, France, but she scaled the ideas down to a smaller, workable scale. She broke new ground in England and America by mixing flowers and vegetables together, planted in complex patterns intended to be both productive and visually appealing.
She was at heart a teacher and an effective communicator, sharing her enthusiasm and the knowledge she had gained from hands-on experience in creating her own garden at Barnsley. Always learning herself, she was open to new ideas and enjoyed her interactions with people. Her writing and her lectures were more like conversations than sermons. She believed any garden should relate well to the house and its environs, a lesson that now seems obvious but had been forgotten. And because Barnsley itself was relatively small, less than four acres, she made beautiful gardens seem possible to the average homeowner. Her message was that you, too, could do this if you tried.
How did this English lady gardener become such a horticultural icon? And what was it that made her particularly successful in America? Although I came to know her very well, I wanted to better understand how she had managed to become world famous when it seemed much more likely that she would live out her life much like countless English country ladies with a nice house, a respectable family, and an attractive garden. As I faced my own senior years, I was intrigued by the fact she began her career after her children had grown. She first took to gardening in her forties and published her first book when she was sixty-two, an age when most people expect to slow down and plan to retire.
My connection to Rosemary began on a cold day in March in New York City. I can still vividly recall walking across Central Park to be interviewed by her. I was very nervous, intent on persuading her to allow me to come work for her in her garden. I hoped my fingernails didnt look too manicured and tried to settle the butterflies in my stomach. I wasnt quite sure what to expect or how to behave. For the past twenty-five years, I had been practicing law in New York City at Debevoise & Plimpton, first as a young associate fresh out of Yale Law School and then as the firms first female partner. I had earned a once-in-a-lifetime sabbatical, a precious chance to break away from my pressured professional life.
My own evolving gardening passion had led to this moment. More than twenty years before Charlie, and I bought an old wreck of an eighteenth-century farmhouse in northwestern Connecticut as a weekend retreat for ourselves and our two young sons. In the process of restoring the house and clearing the land, I had slowly succumbed to a passion for plants. Like Rosemary, I was self taught but hungry to learn more. When I failed to find the perfect course to fit into the short time frame of my sabbatical, a friend suggested I try to work in a great garden instead. I grabbed the idea and wrote somewhat audaciously to two of the most famous English women gardener-writers, Rosemary Verey and Penelope Hobhouse, asking if I might come work as one of their gardeners without pay. To be certain that they would take my request seriously, I asked gardening friends who knew them to write and vouch for me, to verify that I wouldnt be a danger in their gardens and more important, to say that I wouldnt be a pain in the neck.
In response to my letter, Rosemary Verey called me, her voice rather crisp and impersonal. She said she couldnt agree to my proposal without meeting me first, but added, I am coming to New York in early March for the New York Flower Show. Why dont I come to your office on my way into town from the airport for a brief interview? I hadnt been interviewed in over twenty-five years; I normally do the interviewing, mostly young law students seeking to work in my firm. Afraid that my imposing corner office in midtown Manhattan would send the wrong message and suggest that Id expect to be pampered, treated like a guest, unwilling to work hard and learn, I replied, Why dont I come to see you wherever youre staying after youve had a chance to freshen up? Then the day arrived and I was heading off to someones Fifth Avenue apartment with sweaty palms, wondering what the famous Mrs. Verey would decide. I desperately wanted her to like me enough to say yes.
