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Jaime Ferris
jferris@ctcentral.com
Rosemary Verey (1918-2001) is often remembered as the doyenne of 20th-century English garden design, a woman of international renown, the “acknowledged apostle of the ‘English style,’” and the adviser to the rich and famous—think Prince Charles, Sir Elton John and King Hussein. Her most famous garden design is at her home at Barnsley House in the Cotswolds of England, where she spent hours transforming the grounds into a place that still enjoys international acclaim for its beauty.
In America, she was a popular lecturer and a natural teacher who encouraged fellow gardeners “to believe that they were fully capable of creating beautiful gardens while validating their quest for a native vernacular.”
“Good bones,” she believed, “are important, so it is wise to go slowly and get your plan right before launching into a vital project.”
Verey was also a prolific writer of 18 garden books, sharing her expertise with the masses. But she embraced gardening much later in life, and wrote her first book at age 62. And though she dug into gardening late in life, she quickly achieved international acclaim, proving that there is, indeed, life after 60.
Likewise, Washington resident Barbara Paul Robinson, the first woman partner with Debevoise Plimpton and the first woman president of the New York City Bar, has started her own writing career later in life, as well as developing an interest in gardening. Mrs. Robinson and her husband, artist Charles Raskob Robinson, sought respite and bought a derelict 1750s clapboard farmhouse in Washington in 1971. While renovations were underway on the house, Ms. Robinson tackled the landscape, which, she said, ultimately “succumbed to her growing passion for plants.”
Before she knew it, she was totally immersed, so when the opportunity arrived in 1991 for her to take a five-month sabbatical from the law firm, she seized the opportunity and worked as a gardener for Rosemary Verey at her Cotswolds home.
“Rosemary was my boss—and a tough boss, let me tell you—but we ultimately became good friends,” Ms. Robinson said from her home about their 20-year friendship.
Now, Ms. Robinson, paying tribute to her dear friend, has written her first biography, “Rosemary Verey: The Life and Lessons of a Legendary Gardener” (David R. Godine), sharing with those who knew Verey—and those who did not—the extraordinary woman she was, and the remarkable gardening legacy she left behind.
According to Berkshire Style, the book “… all but channels the great Rosemary Verey herself.” Continued…
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