Reading this book is like visiting an old rose garden somewhere in England where softly coloured blooms cascade over rustic brick walls, fallen petals carpet the paths and every breeze fills the air with intoxicating perfume. McCulloch’s central thesis is that thanks to the extraordinary efforts of passionate gardeners, old roses were preserved and protected during the violent years of World War II. At a time when so much was lost and destroyed, the unique beauty of rare flowers was safeguarded so that future generations would be enriched and inspired by their special magic.
The focus of the book is poet and writer Vita Sackville-West and the extraordinary garden she created in the 1930s at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, among the most famous gardens in the world, now administered by the National Trust and attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. While Vita Sackville-West’s story and the history of the Sissinghurst garden restoration is central, McCulloch also explores the contributions of other expert rosarians, such as Constance Spry, Maud Messel, Graham Stuart Thomas and Edward Bunyan. They were all obsessed by the beauty and romanticism of old roses and devoted their lives to hunting down and propagating the species in all its diverse and elusive varieties.
What its author defines as a memoir/biography took many years of tenacious research and interviews to put together. It’s a fascinating glimpse into a world about which those outside the horticultural field probably know little, however you don’t need any specialised knowledge or even be a gardener to appreciate this uplifting story.
Reviewed by Anne Green
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Janelle McCulloch has been a journalist, editor and author for 20 years, both in Australia and Europe. She has worked as an editor for many home and lifestyle magazines, and has contributed style and design pieces to well-known publications such as Sunday Life, Vogue Living, Elle, Marie Claire, the(melbourne)magazine and Inside Melbourne.
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