Valerie Oxley - A Florilegium: Sheffield’s Hidden Garden

A FLORILEGIUM

Sheffields Hidden Garden

Arum italicum'Marmoratum. Artist: Rosalind Timperley
Graphite pencil and watercolour. Accepted to the Archive 2013.

A FLORILEGIUM

Sheffields Hidden Garden

VALERIE OXLEY

First published in 2021 by
The Crowood Press Ltd
Ramsbury, Marlborough
Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2021

The Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 895 5

Cover design: Peggy & Co.
Design Pen and ink logo design: Jenny Kirkland
Crinodendron hookerianumElaine Shimwell. Coloured pencil. Accepted to the Archive 2004

Dedication
This book is dedicated to the members, past and present, of The Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens, whose enthusiasm and generosity have enabled the Society to compile an important archive of drawings and paintings of the planting at the Gardens for everyone to enjoy.

Illustrations from the Archive of The Florilegium Society
at Sheffield Botanical Gardens the artist in each case.

Lathraea clandestinaAnne Dent. Graphite pencil and watercolour. Accepted to the Archive 2003

Preface

The Botanical Gardens in Sheffield are a much-loved public space. Just sitting quietly on a sunny day one can observe how people use and enjoy the Gardens, each in their own unique way. Some simply use the Gardens to get from A to B: a conduit from a busy shopping area to a quiet residential one. Some people walk briskly through, rucksacks hauled onto their backs, hurrying to school or to attend a lecture at the University. Others, mums or dads, walk at a more leisurely pace with young children in tow, going to meet other young parents at the caf or to sit on the grass whilst the children play. Then there are the school visits; eager young children, chattering happily, skipping and dancing through the gardens with their teachers. Older children arrive, questionnaires in hand, looking for a particular tree or herbaceous plant to make a sketch or answer a question. These visitors are followed by those who simply come because they love the place and always have done.

Helleborusx hybridusJill Holcombe. Graphite pencil and watercolour. Accepted to the Archive 2005

But this is more than a pleasure garden full of beautiful trees and colourful plants; it is a collection of gardens where one can study plants from all round the world. There are amazing plants, some originating from rainforests where their existence is threatened, plants that in the wild would be found clinging to a mountain side or at the bottom of a deep ravine.