^ ^ Australian 1 Garden HISTORY DO YOU RECOGNISE THIS GARDEN? HISTORY MISSION The Australian Garden History Society is the leader in concern for and conservation of significant cultural landscapes and gardens through committed, relevant and sustainable action. Patron Margaret Darling Executive Officer Jackie Courmadias Publication Australian Garden History, the official journal of the Australian Garden History Society, is published five times a year. Enquiries Toll Free 1800 678 446 Phone (03) 9650 5043 Fax (03) 9650 8470 E-mail info@gardenhistorysociety.org.au Web-site www.gardenhistorysociety.org.au Postal Address AGHS Gate Lodge, 100 Birdwood Avenue, Melbourne, 3004 Subscriptions (GST inclusive) Fori year Single $55 Family $75 Corporate $200 Youth $20 (under 25 years of age) Non-profit organisations $75 Advertising Rates 1/8 page $132 (2+issues $121 each) 1/4 page $220 (2+ issues $198 each) 1/2 page $330 (2+ issues $275 each) Full page $550 (2+issues $495 each) Inserts $440 for Australia-wide mailing Pro-rata for state-wide mailing Editor Nina Crone PO Box 548, East Melbourne 8002 Phone: (03) 9417 0493 E-mail: ncrone@dcsi.net.au Printing New Litho 8809 2500 ISSN 1033-3673 Former AGHS Chairman, Peter Watts received this photograph from Leo Schofield and thought readers might be able to identify it and suggest the date the photograph was taken. Contact ncrone@dcsi.net.au with your suggestions. ) Research & / ustralian Garden History is always interested in hearing news of recent or current research into garden history and related subjects. jo Hambrett and Alison Halliday are working on a book about the gardens and gardeners of Mt Wilson in NSW. Anne Vale of Woodend is undertaking a Master of Horticulture degree at the University of Melbourne. Her thesis is ‘Olive Mellor and the Evolution of the Australian Domestic Garden’ to be submitted in April 2005. Anne writes: ‘Firstly I am having difficulty finding concrete evidence that Mellor ran a garden show on radio station 3DB for many years. I know she did but the references I have are passing ones and I would tike more substance. I have read all the histories of 3DB but no mention of Mellor. Secondly I am interested in contacting anyone who has a garden designed by Mellor. Extant gardens are few and far between as unlike Walling she seldom used extensive hard landscaping, but I am sure there are some out there-she designed an extraordinary number of gardens, particularly after the second world war.’ Anne’s e-mail is heriscapes@hotkey.net.au or Anne Vale c/o AGHS, Gate Lodge, 100 Birdwood Avenue, Melbourne 3004. STUDIES IN AUSTRALIAN GARDEN HISTORY CALL FOR PAPERS Expressions of interest in submitting articles for the next issue of Studies in Australian Garden History are invited. This occasional publication provides a forum for research into a wide variety of topics relevant to the history of gardens and cultural landscapes. For further information contact the editors: Max Bourke mbourke@ruralfunds.com.au Colleen Morris morris@zeta.org.au CONTENTS Editorial Advisory Panel Convener Anne Latreille Members Richard Aitken Paul Fox David Jones Megan Martin Prue Slatyer Christopher Vernon Cover: The Heights in Geelong is celebrating its 150th anniversary. The water tower, shown here, is a feature of the garden which remains remarkably intact. Photo by Nina Crone Introducing Ipswich in Queensland -Elspeth Douglas.3 Queens Park Ipswich - Jan Seto.4 Japanese Gardens for Ipswich -Chris Boulton & Rob Sewell.9 Genesis of a historic garden - Part 2 -Volkhard Wehner.11 Gardenesque: the exhibition & the book -Howard Tanner.14 ‘From your affectionate child’ - Pacita Alexander.16 25th Annual N ational Conference -Howard Tanner.19 Items of interest .22 Diary dates .23 Edinburgh Gardens, Fitzroy -Lorraine Nadebaum.24 2 Australian Garden History November/December 2004 V0I.16N0.3 fjydCOZ C/V Ltl By Elspeth Douglas I pswich, Queensland, is currently cele¬ brating the centenary of its proclamation as a city on 3 December 1904. 1 Its origins however go back much further as it was built on the land of the Jaggera people who remained about Ipswich for most of the nineteenth century, mainly in what became known as Queens Park. Subsequently they were moved to missions at Deebing Creek and Purga. 2 The Purga property is now owned by the Purga Elders and Descendants Aboriginal Corporation. The D’Aguilarand Great Dividing Ranges ring the city and the Bremer River, a tributary of the Brisbane River runs through it. John Oxley ‘discovered’these rivers in 1824. On a further survey by Captain Logan in 1826 and 1827, limestone was found. A convict outstation was set up to quarry the limestone which was then sent to Brisbane by boat. The area was known as Limestone Hills. 3 The explorer Fraser recorded in his journal of 11 July 1828 that “Numerous beds of coal, lying in veins of considerable thickness, are adjacent to the lime: they jut out from the banks of the streams, and fall into the Bremer within a few yards of its tide mark.” '* Coal became a principal source of Ipswich’s prosperity almost to the end of the twentieth century. The Bremer River, however, lost its importance as a transport route because of its infestation by the Water Hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes), probably the area’s first feral plant. With the hyacinth conquered, the river is now seriously polluted by chemicals! Transportation of convicts was abolished in 1837 and land opened for free settlement in 1842. Limestone was renamed Ipswich. The original settlers were from Britain and Ireland but soon settlers from Europe, especially Germany, arrived. Chinese were present cultivating market gardens. They were not the first gardeners however. That honour goes to the convicts who, whilst quarrying limestone before free settlement, grew vegetables to feed themselves. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Ipswich became an industrial area with mines, factories and the Queensland Railway Workshops. It functioned as a market town and business centre for the West Moreton District. Gardening was widely practised and nurseries offered a fascinating choice of edible and decorative plants. Newer industries have replaced the traditional ones. The city has grown in size and population, currently 137,000. Today 115 ethnic groups speaking 85 languages are spread over 1,207 kilometres! 5 Many of these people brought their traditional gardening practices with them. Ipswich offers some challenges for gardeners. Its average mean rainfall ranges from 9.9 rain days in January with a mean total of 126.6mm to 5.3 rain days in July with a mean total of 43.5 mm. Mean temperatures range from 6.9° C to 21.2 0 C in July. The average daily maximum in January is 32.i°C. The soils vary from rich alluvial to black and the legendary limestone. Despite this, Ipswich’s streets are full of flowery and productive gardens. Its numerous parks are open for public enjoyment and environmental groups encourage citizens to study and rehabilitate their environment. Ipswich has much to offer its residents and visitors. Elspeth Douglas is Chair of the Queensland Branch ofAGHS. She has lived and gardened in Ipswich for many years and has worked as a volunteer in Queens Park. Endnotes 1 Queensland Times, 3/12/04 p.4. 2 Deebing Creek and Purga Missions Daniel Habermann (Daniel Habermann and Ipswich City Council, p.58 ff). 3 The Romance of the Bremer Marjorie Brier-Mills (Ipswich Historical Society 1982) p.4. 4 The Romance of the Bremer Marjorie Brier-Mills (Ipswich Historical Society 1982) p.4. 5 Ipswich Presentation (Ipswich City Council). NATIONAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE Chair Colleen Morris Vice-Chair Glenn Cooke Treasurer Malcolm Faul Secretary Di Wilkins Elected Members Max Bourke ACT Malcolm Faul VIC Sarah Lucas NSW Colleen Morris NSW Stuart Read NSW Christine Reid VIC Di Wilkins SA State Representatives GabrielleTryon ACT Eleanor Dartnall NSW Glenn Cooke QLD Wendy Joyner SA John Isbel VIC Ivan SaltmarshTAS Tessa Watson WA BRANCH CONTACTS ACT/Monaro/Riverina Branch GabrielleTryon 4 Anstey Street Pearce ACT 2607 Ph: (02) 6286 4585 gmtryon@netspeed.com.au Queensland Branch Elspeth Douglas 4 Cintra Street Eastern Heights QLD 4305 Ph: (07) 3282 9762 South Australian Branch Di Wilkins 39 Elizabeth Street Eastwood SA 5068 Ph: (08) 8272 9381 di_wilkins@bigpond.com Southern Highlands Branch Chris Webb PO Box 707 Moss Vale NSW 2577 Ph: (02) 48614899 cwebb@cwebb.com.au Sydney & Northern NSW Branch Silas Clifford-Smith 261 Old Canterbury Road Dulwich Hill NSW 2203 Ph: (02) 95693417 sdiff@bigpond.net.au Tasmanian Branch IvanSaltmarsh 125 Channel Road TaroonaTAS 7053 Ph: (03) 62278515 ivanof@bigpond.com Victorian Branch Phillip Goode 2 Beaconsfield Parade NorthcoteVIC 3070 Ph: (03) 9482 5105 pgoode@hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au Western Australian Branch Edith Young 21A Corbel Street Shelley WA 6148 Ph: (08) 9457 4956 young_ee47@hotmail.com V0I.16N0.3 November/December 2004 Australian Garden History 3 IPSWICH By Jan S eto Many more botanic gardens were established throughout the country by the end of the nineteenth century... many botanic gardens were established in regional towns; although they aspired to horticultural excellence - swelling civic pride - and adhered to some tenets of international standards - such as permanence, plant acclimatisation, accurate nomenclature, and dedicated staff- recreational usage loomed large and scientific endeavour was minimal. A similar, though smaller, network of‘Queens Parks' was established in Qld during the late nineteenth century.' Michael Looker Fig.i: Map of reserve for Public Recreation and Gardens as declared in 1862. T oday the “Queens Park” in Ipswich, Queensland is a remnant of this unique historical network of regional botanic gardens in Queensland. Continuing in the tradition in which these parks were established Queens Park is still a focus of civic pride for the community of Ipswich and retains its focus on recreational usage in a unique horticultural and geological setting. Part of MT51 The first Europeans to venture into the Ipswich area were members of an expedition led by Captain Logan, the third commandant of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement in 1827. From the Bremer River Logan noticed white hummocks and on landing confirmed that these deposits were part of a limestone ridge. Limestone was a useful resource to discover near the growing penal settlement. Logan established a small convict out-station at the site, quarried the stone, built a lime kiln and transported the “quicklime” to Brisbane by boat for use in mortar for building. Visitors to Ipswich from the south cross the limestone ridge that Logan was mining as they enter the city along Brisbane Street (Queen Victoria Parade) through Queens Park. On the western face of this ridge a group of remnant grass trees, Xanthorrhoea sp., as yet not botanically described, survives in the park. The convict out-station was closed in 1839 and free settlement was allowed in 1842. Henry Wade was instructed to undertake the first general survey of the region. In doing so he proposed the establishment of the town of “Limestone” on the Bremer River at the current site of Ipswich. Wade laid out a town grid of narrow streets and set aside a number of areas for public recreation, one of which, Alma Square, was situated partially in what is now Queens Park although the original map notes that, “This area is quite steep and hardly fits in with the idea of a town square. ” 2 Ipswich residents held a public meeting in 1858 calling on the governor of NSW to grant them land for 4 Australian Garden History November/December2004 V0I.16N0.3 a “Public Park Recreation Ground and Botanic Gardens”. No map survives of the extent of the proposed park but on 16 September 1858 the request was granted. The Board of Trustees was appointed in 1862 and on the 8 May a Deed of Grant for 207 acres and 14 perches (84 hectares) for a “Reserve for Public Recreation and Gardens” was recorded. The reserve was bounded by Salisbury Road to the south, Chermside Road to the east, the Bremer River to the north with Milford and Lion Streets to the west. (Refer Fig.1). 3 Unhurried Beginnings An insight into the daily use of Queens Park at this time can be gained from a set of Park Rules published locally in the Queensland Times in July 1863. By now the park was fenced, a necessity in nineteenth century and early twentieth century Queensland in an effort to keep straying stock from grazing away the horticultural endeavours. Gates would be open from 6 am to dusk daily. Stray animals would be impounded. People would be prosecuted if found to be removing stone, timber, lime or gravel from the park without permission. Cutting timber, burning the grass trees, damaging park fences or seats, or engaging in shooting were also punishable offences. Little is known of the design of Queens Park at this time. An early plan was provided by Walter Hill, Curator of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. No record of this plan survives and Walter Hill himself notes on a visit in 1876 that his planting scheme had not been followed. Watercolour paintings of part of the park in 1862 and 1872 show expanses of wide, open grassy slopes with scattered grass trees near the top of the limestone ridge.' 1 (Figure 2) Any visions the Board of Trustees may have had for park improvement projects have not been found recorded. What has been recorded is an ongoing struggle to acquire funding for even the most basic requirements of park maintenance. Income was derived from State Government assistance, rent from the agistment of stock, and the sale of hay. Windfall funding was directed to Queens Park Ipswich in 1875 by way of compensation paid by the State Government for the resumption of land on the northern end of the reserve for the construction of the Brisbane to Ipswich rail line. This funding was used to construct a series of roadways through the park, remove loose stones from steep slopes, build extra gates, install box drains, construct and fence a new waterhole and erect a public toilet. 5 By the end of the 1870s the Queens Park network in Queensland included parks in Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Maryborough, Gympie, Townsville and Warwick. The government horticultural purse strings were being mightily stretched. In 1893 a campaign Ipswich Municipal Council had waged for many years was successful and they took over the control of the Queens Park Reserve. Funding was now a local problem. Entries in the park Cash Book from 1893 indicate a reasonable amount of income was derived from members of the cricket and tennis clubs who used the park. Some entries in the park cash book refer to horticultural pursuits. In 1897 a cost is noted for the cutting of prickly pear and burr. In 1901 repairs were made to “the cottage” (presumably the curator's residence) and roses were purchased. A record for the payment of architect's fees is noted in 1902 without an explanation as to what was designed. Over the years a number of local sporting clubs have based their activities in Queens Park. The southern section of the park, known then as the Horse Park, and today as Limestone Park, Fig.2: Lithograph of Queens Park Ipswich in 1872, artist unknown. V0I.16N0.3 November/December 2004 Australia Garden H istory 5 was used by Ipswich Golf Club from 1897 until the mid twentieth century. As already noted organised tennis was played in the park from the 1890s. Courts have been located at a variety of sites within the park since that time. A cricket pitch is no longer located in the park however Queens Park continues as a home to the Croquet Club since 1902 and the Ipswich Bowls Club since 1910. Seminal Curators His curatorship is one of the most significant in terms of the horticultural heritage of Ipswich. "... he was one of the poets of Ipswich and had for many years been composing poems of beauty expressed in the language of the flowers.” 7 An extract from the local newspaper, the Queensland Times, on the occasion of Mr. Turley's retirement provides us with a glimpse of his work. Fig.3: Bougainvillea ‘Turley’s Special' flowering today in Queens Park as a hedge to the Curator’s cottage built for Thomas Wall who succeeded Turley as curator. Information regarding the earliest park curators is scant. The first mention (and his only mention) of a park keeper was William Haylitt in 1867. In May 2000 Ipswich City Council received a request from a relative to commemorate the work of Joseph Smith Lowis who had laid out many gardens in Ipswich in the late nineteenth century. Alexander Munro was appointed as park keeper in 1881 and continued until 1909. Munro was born in Scotland and trained on the Dunrobin Castle estate. Following emigration to Australia he worked with his brother on Talgai East on the Darling Downs. He then married and moved to employment at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens priorto his appointment to Ipswich. Munro was succeeded by George Jackson as a temporary appointment until Frederick Turley was appointed later in 1909. Turley was an exceptional botanist and horticulturalist and had trained at Kew Gardens. 6 He remained in the position until 1935. Note that this curatorship encompassed responsibility for all the parks in Ipswich although Queens Park was acknowledged as the premier park of the town. “Even before he came to Ipswich he had mapped out a programme; but when he came here he found the park was a more beautiful place than he had imagined. 7 now hope that none will attempt to improve Queen's Park because he will only make a mess of it.', proceeded the speaker [Mr. Turley], 'The hill very appropriately known as Lover's Walk, for it is very popular with lovers, is too beautiful naturally to be improved to any extent.' Mr. Turley observed that he could not apologise for having made a fuss of bougainvillea. In such a climate as Ipswich's it was his opportunity to propagate and collect new varieties. It took many years to build up the present collection and now he left it to the people of Ipswich, to whom it belonged ■ and that was not any particular generosity on his part. As a result of his travels in various parts of the world, he could say safely that Ipswich had the finest collection of the plant in the world. His name certainly had been perpetuated in a most beautiful bougainvillea but that, instead of being his own idea, merely was the survival of a tribute paid to him by ladies of the Croquet Club. 'Turley's Special' today was one of the most popular varieties. Mr. Turley wound up with an admission that there was nothing in Ipswich of which he was more proud than the trees - particularly those on Limestone Hill. They even overshadowed his pride in the bougainvilleas.” 8 DuringTurley's curatorship the limestone walls and park entrance statements which remain such a distinctive part today of the entry into the city of Ipswich from Brisbane were built. 6 Australian Garden History November/December2004 V0I.16N0.3 This construction was carried out as relief labour work in the early 1930s underthe direction of the City Engineer. Records indicate that the terraces were heavily planted with Turley's bougainvilleas and were regarded as one of the major beauty spots of the city. Bougainvillea had been voted the floral emblem of Ipswich in 1930. 9 Regrettably today these terraces are largely devoid of any planting and the requirements of modern traffic circulation have meant that now neither of the park entrances are used as such, although the limestone work still stands (Figures 4 and 5.) Bougainvillea is no longer the floral emblem for Ipswich City. Its exotic exuberance of colour has been replaced by the calmer cream but equally exuberant display of a local small eucalypt, Eucalyptus curtisii. Frederick Turley was succeeded as curator by Thomas Wall who managed the parks of Ipswich from 1936 to 1959. Despite Turley's stated wish on his retirement that no-one should attempt to improve Queens Park in the future. Wall embarked on an ambitious programme of improvements immediately following his appointment. His enthusiasm was supported by an article in the Queensland Times on 20 January 1936 underthe headline of “Will Ipswich Ever Get The Park it Needs?”. "... Will he get sufficient backing from the council and sufficient opportunity to make Queen's Park what it really should be? Today it is only half as pleasant as it might be for visitors and children have to rely on their imagination and their play for fun. Without question Queen's Park naturally is most beautiful - the ruggedness of Lover's Walk is fascinating; the slopes and groves to the south and west restful; and the limestone knoll-studded wilderness to the north-east has a wild attractiveness that is almost undefineablefsic.]. To present a scene of nature's splendour however should not be the only attribute of a public park. This is but the essential surrounding which aids to the fulfilment of its other functions - to provide a place where the people might pleasantly while away the time at play by leisurely strolling, seeing things, or in perfect restfulness. In Queen's Park now there are few things one might see and fewer opportunities for this restfulness - in comfort. A number of “Letters to the Editor” appeared in subsequent issues of the Queensland Times supporting the thrust of this article. Virtually immediately Wall set about upgrading and expandingthe facilities for keepingcaged birds and animals in the park. Today Queens Park retains these animal display facilities in a modern “Nature Centre” which was extensively upgraded and officially opened in 1998. Park Committee minutes from Wall's early years as curator indicate the he was also concerned with the usual day to day operations of a major city park. The riding of bicycles on footpaths and grass in Queens Park on Sunday afternoons was noted as a problem. Large beds of stock plants were eaten by straying cattle. 13 Four boys were apprehended cutting the centres out of the grass trees along Lovers' Walk in Queens Park with a butcher's knife. Their parents were notified. 14 The curator was given permission to remove several bunya Fig.4: North western entry to Queens Park, year unknown. Today these imposing limestone columns are in a traffic island. Fig.5: Limestone stairs leading from within the Park into the grounds of the Bowling Club facility within the park. Australian Garden History 7 V0I.16N0.3 November/December 2004 Fig.6: Hedged rose gardens, pond and fountain today at the rear of the bush house that was built in 1940. This bush house was re-opened to the public in 2000 following extensive repair work. pines from the centre of Queens Park as they were over forty feet high and hence the potential fortheir droppingtheir nuts in a public place highly dangerous. They were replaced with trees of unspecified species. Later Wall sought permission to remove book leaf pines from the “gun knoll” in Queens Park as the stony ground on which they were planted was not suitable for them. 16 Again these trees were to be replaced by more appropriate but unspecified species. A further request to remove seven bunya pines regarded as a “hazard” is noted in January 1938. No mention is made on this occasion of replacement species.’ 7 Meanwhile the foundations were laid for the extensive park building programme which was undertaken during Wall's curatorship. "It was decided to report having again considered the matter of the construction of a Curator's cottage, removing and remodelling the kiosk, and removing the shelter shed in Queen's park, a loan and subsidy of £1100 having been obtained for the purpose, and to point out that we had instructed the Park Curator to interview Mr. Gill and supply sufficient information to enable him to prepare plans for our consideration .”’ 8 Fig.7: Gardens spill down this slope today between the 1941 glass house on the left and the 1940 bush house on the right. This is the view from the entrance into the curator’s cottage built for Thomas Wall in 1938. Fig.9: The new lookout on Lover’s Walk with the remnant grass trees on the slope to the right of the photograph. Fig.8: Extent of Queens Park today. (Map supplied by Ipswich City Council) A tender was accepted from Mr. A.H.Todd in June 1938 for the construction of the new curator's cottage. By September 1938 the Ipswich Municipal Council was again applying to the State Government Treasury for loans for capital works in Queens Park. This time the plans included a bush house, a new glass house, a workshop, a grass cutting machine and improvements to the water supply. When tenders were finally received for this work in March 1940 the cost for the construction of the planned glass house was considered too expensive and it was dropped from the building programme. All other work tendered for construction was undertaken. Wall still required a glass house however and less ambitious plans were prepared forTreasury loan approval in July 1940. By May 1941 it was reported that the glasshouse was nearing completion. Queens Park Today Typical of the fate of so many public parks over the intervening years since their original reservation Queens Park has undergone the slow depletion of some of its peripheral lands fora range of public purposes otherthan parkland. Today the original 84 hectares has been reduced to approximately 24 hectares includingthe Cunninghams Knoll area to the north of today's Queens Park. (Figure 8). The park however remains as a much-visited place in Ipswich for both residents and tourists and it is a continuing well spring of civic pride. A number of key changes to the park since the end of Wall's curatorship include the construction of a new kiosk in 1985; the construction of a lookout echoing the design of a demolished bell roofed rotunda along the Lover's Walk area in 1995 (Figure 9); the significant upgrading of the animal enclosures into a modern Nature Centre in 1998; and the opening of the Nerima Gardens in 2001. Also in 2001 a Visitors Centre was opened in the north-east corner of the park on a site which had been leased as a petrol station fora number of years. This building now provides a base for the volunteer guides who enthusiastically support visitors to Queens Park and acts as an information point for visitors to the City of Ipswich. Jan Seto trained as an architect and landscape architect. She consults in the field of landscape history, is an active member of AGHS and contributed to The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens. Endnotes 1 Looker, M., in (eds) Aitken, R. and Looker, M„ (2002), The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens, The Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Vic., p.98. 2 Buchanan R„ (2004), Queens Park, Background History for Conservation Management Plan, unpublished report. 3 Plan MT 51 in Buchanan R., (2004). " Ipswich Arts Foundation (Ac 1997) Ipswich in 1872, Colour Lithograph printed by MacLure and MacDonald London. 5 Buchanan R. (2004). 6 Buchanan R. (2004). 7 QT10/12/1935. 8 QT 10/12/1935. 9 Buchanan R. (2004). 10 Photograph in Figure 4 kindly supplied by Whitehead Studios, Ipswich. 11 QT 20/01/1936. 12 Park Committee Minutes 06/08/1936. 13 Park Committee Minutes 04/09/1936. 121 Park Committee Minutes 13/11/1936. 15 Park Committee Minutes 11/12/1936. 16 Park Committee Minutes 11/06/1937. 17 Park Committee Minutes 10/01/1938. 18 Park Committee Minutes 06/09/1937. 8 Australian Garden History November/December 2004 V0I.16N0.3 4Jtepe ^(trv~t:n r d T he new Nerima Gardens are nearing completion in the historic Queens Park of Ipswich, Queensland. They have been designed in collaboration with Ipswich City’s sister city of Nerima in Japan. The aim of the garden design is to create “a place of peace and tranquility, a place to meet nature and calm the spirit.” During the first five years since their official opening, Nerima Gardens have quickly found a place in the heart of many Ipswich residents, and indeed visitors to the City. Once complete, the gardens are set to become a prominent attraction in the South East Queensland region for not only those with an interest in gardens, but anyone with a love of nature. In February 1992 the Tokyo Nerima-West Rotary Club formalised a sister club relationship with Ipswich Rotary Club. This was followed by an ‘Agreement on Friendship and Bilateral Co¬ operation’ signed by the then Mayor of Ipswich and the Mayor of Nerima, Tokyo, in October 1994. Since that signing, the relationship between the two cities has both strengthened and grown as the result of education, sporting, art and cultural exchanges which have taken place on a regular basis, in addition to gifts of library materials and the establishment of a pen pals club. In 1994, as part of a master planning project for Queens Park, the idea of a Japanese style garden was mooted. The final master plan for the park was publicly exhibited and warmly received by the Ipswich community. Work on the concept design for the gardens started in 1996 with much discussion between Ipswich City representatives and their Japanese counterparts. It was decided during those early stages that the theme for the gardens should draw its inspiration from the topography of the Ipswich area whilst exhibiting a Japanese style of Landscape Architecture. Assistance was provided by both Nerima City Office and the Tokyo Nerima-West Rotary Club and included advice and practical expertise with the initial planning and working drawings. This was followed by funding from both organisations for experts to work on-site for a period alongside Ipswich City Council staff. Gifts of two stone lanterns from Nerima City Office as well as a stone lantern and stone water basin from Tokyo Nerima-West Rotary Club were donated to the gardens. Nerima Gardens have been planned to take advantage of the existing vegetation and landform of the site in such a way that the visitor is taken on a journey of discovery where the perspective constantly changes and Far Left: Entry Gate to Nerima Gardens Left: The Ocean next to the Peace Bridge. Japanese symbolism with Australian Hoop Pines in the distance. V0I.16N0.3 November/December 2004 Australian Garden History 9 Grass Tree in the Raked Garden: an Australian icon in a Japanese setting lightens the heart. The design seeks to capture the philosophy of Japanese garden design whilst promoting a distinct Ipswich identity through the use of locat plants, including rare and endangered species. The gardens reflect a picture of the local environment and illustrate how Ipswich fits within South East Queensland. The design portrays the distant ocean and the closer features of the Ipswich region, its rivers, mountain peaks and vegetation. Nerima Gardens has been constructed over two stages, with the first stage being completed over a period of 12 months, commencing May 2000. The staff from Ipswich City Council and workers from a variety of employment initiatives were engaged to complete the construction and planting works. The first design element to be constructed was the ocean with its island and associated rockwork. The entry gate, bridges and pathways were then constructed followed by the placing of plants and ornamental features such as lanterns. The gardens have been designed to allow access by all, including people with disabilities. Mayor Saburo Iwanami of Nerima and then Ipswich Mayor John Nugent officially opened Nerima Gardens in May 2001 to commemorate the sister city relationship between Nerima City, Japan and Ipswich City, Australia. Construction of the second stage of works is now nearing completion, having commenced in early November 2003. Landscape features in this elevated area of the garden include an interpretation of Mount Flinders as a key focal point for the City of Ipswich, a series of arched bridges, secret gardens and a series of wet and dry channels to direct and manage storm-water across the site. Works were carried out using predominantly Council’s own day-labour staff from departments including parks and landscape construction, using carpenters, painters, nursery workers and electricians. External contractors were engaged as necessary to complete works such as rock placement, rendering of walls, and concrete works. Site management was a key issue associated with the construction of the second stage, specifically in relation to the protection of existing trees within the site. No significant vegetation was removed during the construction of the gardens. Significant constraints in completing the construction works were the site’s topography and limited accessibility through existing facilities. These were overcome by sequencing the works to enable final egress upon completion of construction. Since Stage One of the gardens was officially opened, it is estimated that over 250 000 visitors have entered the garden, with a weekly average visitation in the order of 1500 people. Formal international visits have also been of delegates from Tokyo Nerima-West Rotary Club and other organizations from Nerima City. Nerima Gardens also attracts many regional and local visitors with an interest in gardening, and has frequently been the setting of choice for wedding photography. Nerima Gardens form a dynamic landscape that will continue to change with the seasons and mature with time. As gardens of this nature are still considered to be young at 500 years, it is presumed that they will not reach their full potential for many years to come. However, as the two cities of Ipswich and Nerima grow, so too will the Nerima Gardens in Queens Park, Ipswich. Chris Boulton and Rob Sewell work for the Ipswich City Council. Right: The Peace Bridge inside the gardens with the Entry Gate and surrounding wall behind it. Far right: The Fish Scale Beach next to the Ocean with a Japanese lantern in the background. 10 Australian Garden History November/December 2004 V0I.16N0.3 Part 2 - After Edna Walling at Folly Farm By Volkhard Wehner L eonard Cox realized that after Edna Walling’s departure there was still a great deal to be done to complete the design of Folly Farm. Soon after her departure he commenced with extensions to Walling’s work. Following principles which he felt were in sympathy with her ideas he concentrated on three areas. The first of these was the point where the drive, the cottage garden and the new big paddock met. Here he successfully ‘connected’ these areas by planting a number of conifers (cedar, cypress, yew), a silver birch, as well as a number ofsmallershrubs-on land derived from the big paddock-creating a little embankment retained by a dry stone wall with a path leading to the garage and house and, via two new stone gate pillars with a ‘rural’ gate mirroring the Ellis Stones-designed gate at the top of the drive, into the big paddock. Creating a small section of new garden on land excised from the paddock he extended Walling’s cottage garden in an easterly direction to the edge of the remaining paddock, edging it with a dry rock wall, using ‘floaters’ collected in the paddock and the new gate. He had thus defined the garden/paddock boundaries, which was necessary, as the big paddock was subsequently leased to a succession of local farmers for potato growing, later for horse agistment, and, from the late 1970s, for berry growing by the family. Had Edna known that in the late 1970s part of the paddock on the other side of that gate would be planted with masses of her beloved American blueberries (I /actinium corymbosum), she would surely have approved. Cox had thus, if not necessarily enhanced, then certainly extended Walling’s concept of an easy flow of design from garden to drive to paddock. area developed out of the rough block acquired in 1936. Simply put, Cox allowed regrowth of native trees - largely black wattle and blackwood - on a liberal scale. He inter-planted these with ‘copses’ of silver birch, realizing that this was one of Edna’s preferred stylistic motifs at that stage of her career, as well as random plantings of yews, various cupressus species, a variety of other conifers, cornus, sycamore (an unfortunate choice, now considered environmentally intrusive), aspens, beeches, and progressively, as his interest in the rhododendron genus developed, first older style and later species rhododendrons, camellias, sasanquas and azaleas. Late in life Cox developed a deep and lasting passion for species rhododendrons which he often grew from seed in a specially constructed heated glasshouse. He trialled these in his garden before they were planted out in the nearby National Rhododendron Garden, of which he was a founder member (c.1960). Indeed, he was actively involved in the Rhododendron Garden’s planning and later, its actual planting programme. The entrance gate of the Rhododendron Garden was literally a stone’s throw away from the top gate of Folly Farm. Folly Farm Driveway in 2004. Entrance to Folly Farm in 2004. The second area linked by Cox with Walling’s designs was the lower garden, i.e. the garden V0I.16N0.3 November/December 2004 Australian Garden History 11 Folly Farm Rhododendron The lower garden was also planted with thousands of narcissus and bluebell bulbs on the extensive native grasslands which he encouraged through occasional mowing, which was of course also a necessary fire prevention measure. The narcissi and bluebells proliferated and ‘naturalised’ rapidly, adding a most pleasing character to this very successful blend of Australian, European and North American woodland garden characteristics, especially in the spring. Edna loved woodland gardens; they appealed to her because of their subtle colouring. She was an avowed opponent of‘showy’colour in her gardens (quite in contrast to her idol Gertrude Jekyll). The third planting programme undertaken by Cox- in this case not for the benefit of ‘connecting’ or ‘adapting’ areas designed by Walling, but rather by way of enrichment -was his extensive use of various types of rhododendrons, camellias, sasanquas and azaleas in the cottage garden, for the reasons already given. The diverse foliage of this genus, its relatively short flowering period (in many cases occurring in winter or spring when the garden needs a little extra colour) and its great suitability to Olinda’s microclimate, high rainfall and acidic soil, made these plants eminently suitable for the Folly Farm Garden. In many ways Cox’s approach successfully ensured the viability of this part of the garden, whereas the static nature and absence of a constant renewal programme in the driveway now poses a considerable problem. attraction to the Cox family was considerably increased, and the property was more extensively used. When Leonard Cox eventually retired from his medical practice in the early 1960s to devote more time to his role as chairman of the National Gallery of Victoria (and incidentally, to gardening), improvements were made to the cottage in anticipation of the move to Olinda. There, Cox completed his great History of the National Gallery of Victoria in addition to devoting much time to gardening and the cultivation of species rhododendrons, as well as taking a leading part in the development and administration of the National Rhododendron Garden and the Australian Rhododendron Society. Leonard and Nancy Cox lived out their lives at Olinda. Both died in 1976. In 1978 their daughter Barbara Wehner and her family settled at Folly Farm, transforming the ‘big paddock’ into a viable berry and chestnut farm. Within months of Leonard Cox’s passing the National Trust of Australia awarded a landscape classification (Category 2 - of State Significance) to Folly Farm, and soon afterwards the property was included on the National Heritage Commission’s Register of the National Estate. Unfortunately it soon became clear that the gradual senescence of certain areas of the garden called for a drastic renewal program. No steps had been taken by Leonard Cox, though perhaps during his lifetime there was as yet little evidence of the garden’s ageing. Barbara Wehner and her family successfully commenced a renewal and maintenance program in the cottage and woodlands garden area. A start was also made in the driveway, but much still remained to be done. The sale of the greater part of the property in 1998 ended 86 years of continuous involvement by the ‘founder’ family. The new owners, Belinda and Robert Rooth, continued both the farming activities and the the garden maintenance and renewal programme. Folly Farm - what’s in a name? Challenges and changes After Walling’s creation had settled down and become part of the landscape, the property’s The ‘original’ Folly Farm in Berkshire, England, dates from the mid-i7th century. In 1906 and 1912 it was extended by two successive owners. In both cases the architect appointed 12 Australian Garden History November/December 2004 V0I.16N0.3 had been the noted Sir Edwin Lutyens, working in tandem with equally noted garden designer Gertrude Jekyll - an interesting analogy with Edna Walling and Eric Hammond. Both these extensions are considered to be successful, 1 not only because the architectural impact of house and garden are complementary, but more importantly, because the modifications and additions introduced by both Lutyens and Jekyll celebrate a deliberate contrast between the original components of the building and garden and their additions and modifications. In other words, changes are made to be noticed and to surprise, but they do not clash. What does this tell us about Edna Walling’s creation? We know that she greatly admired Gertrude, and she used many of Jekyll’s ‘stock plants’ like silver birches, hawthorn, lavender, laburnum -all of them ‘signature’ plants at Folly Farm. The two women had a great deal in common. Like Jekyll, Walling was a strong-willed personality, deeply committed to women’s advancement. Edna chose the name Sonning for her home at Bickleigh Vale in recognition of another famous Jekyll-designed property which, like Folly Farm, is located in Berkshire. While she admired Jekyll, Walling was no Jekyll ‘clone’. For a start, Gertrude preceded Edna by over half a century. Both women developed their strong personalities through a long period of struggle and personal growth: Gertrude evolved from a Victorian ‘lady gardener’to a professional garden designer and author through her involvement in the suffragette movement. Edna, in Australia’s far more open society, owed her success in equal measure to her strong character, her far less tradition-bound attitude towards garden and landscape design, and to the need to earn an income. Jekyll broke away from tradition; Walling adapted what she knew of English gardening tradition and in the process pioneered an Australian gardening tradition. Parallel developments can also be observed in other branches of the applied arts like Australian architecture and painting. Especially in her ‘wild’ country gardens like Folly Farm, Edna responded to a summer climate which was much harsher than in Gertrude Jekyll’s England. The socio-economic environment in which Walling operated differed from that of changes to Waiting _ . . , .. . scalloped beds in 2004. Britain, demanding a minimalist maintenance regime which could be carried out by owners rather than by cheap traditional village labour available in England. Australian garden owners demanded a blend of native and exotic garden (plant) characteristics. There can be little doubt that Walling knew of the English Folly Farm, though she never visited it. She would have been aware of it through Gertrude’s books, of which she had a full collection until the disastrous fire destroyed her home and library in 1936. The successful blend of old and new at Jekyll’s Folly Farm would have appealed to her. At Olinda she created a similar contrast between old and new: the old being the primeval Australian mountain bush surrounding Folly Farm, and the new being the strong, deliberately emphasized planting of exotic trees and shrubs, contrasting but not clashing where they merged, and mellowed in the transition areas by strong emphasis on rocks, stone paths, stone gates, etc. The word symbiosis comes to mind. The author, Volkhard Wehner, has recently completed a brief history of a ‘lost garden’, Joyous Card, in Murrumbeena, associated with Margaret Tuckett and Dr John Springthorpe. He is currently working on a bio-history of Walling gardens and their owners in the Dandenongs. Endnote ! Walling, E., A Gardener’s Log, 1985 edition (a) p.12 (b) p. 134 Erratum: In Part 1 of this article (Vol. 16 No. 2, p. 14) footnote 7 should read ‘The Rockery’ in Edna Walling, Gardens in Australia, p.5i(top). V0I.16N0.3 November/December2004 Australian Garde History 13 * q£ £ £ ar ^ n s«j* * iiii AN EXHIBITION & A BOOK tirde/i£> A Celebration of Australian Gardening Reviewed by Howard Tanner Below: Dryandra longifolia from Robert Sweet’s Flora Australasia! (1827), the first comprehensive book on Australian plants. Below bottom: Gardening in Australia (1926) by E E Pescott: the bungalow as the centre of one’s universe, with trees and hedges relegated to the boundary, emphasizing smooth lawns and flowering annuals and standard roses. Below right: Bishop Perry's residence at Jolimont in 1848 - a watercolour undertaken from memory by W F E Liardet in 1875. Like lohn Glover’s celebrated view (c.1843) of his house and garden at Mill’s Plains, Tasmania, the garden is revealed in full flower. T he term gardenesque originally defined the very epitome of High Victorian gardening - of outdoor artistry with an emphasis on botanic individuality- but is used here to provide a catchy and memorable title. These two wonderfully rich and rewarding accounts of our gardening history -entwined in their preparation, but quite different in their outcomes - reveal Richard Aitken’s pivotal role in recent garden research and scholarship, and the pursuit of avenues which ensure public accessibility to this interesting material. Both the book and the exhibition have been undertaken in close collaboration with Suzanne Hunt (a member of the AGHS and a persuasive advocate of garden history) and Olga Tsara of the State Library ofVictoria. Their starting point was the substantial resource of the collections of the State Library, and then, by exploring a wider pictorial base, they were able to convey the evolution of Australian gardening over time. The book is a pictorial triumph, while the exhibition-often of small, sometimes jewel-like items- is visually less successful. It is not well served by its relatively bland institutional setting, which would have been better, in my view, transformed into a dark-hued Aladdin’s cave or a semblance of a conservatory. Each age has its ‘collectables’ - books, illustrations, photographs, artefacts or other permanent momentos - which convey the triumphs of a particular endeavour: gardening, in this case.These collectables-includingsome of the finest botanical volumes ever produced, such as Robert Thornton’s Temple of Flora (1807) - are used here to engage the viewer, providing a range of informative examples over time, from 1800 to the present day. The wealthier subjects of George 111 could best understand the splendours of international horticultural exploration through the pages of William Curtis’ Botanical Magazine (here conveyed by an illustration of a ‘Tyger-spotted Chinese Lily’of 1809), while in France the Empress josephine was by 1813 cultivating Australian plants such Callistemon glauca and commissioning coloured engravings of them by the celebrated botanical artist P j Redoute. The earliest comprehensive account of Australia’s flowering plants was Robert Sweet’s Flora Australasica (London,1827), with beautiful hand- coloured engravings; the first example of an Australian-produced book with printed colour illustrations did not occur until H A James’ Handbook of Australian Horticulture was published in Sydney in 1892. While these are sophisticated productions, it is equally fascinating to examine W F E Liardet’s charmingly naive ‘house and garden portraits’ of early Melbourne, showing flowering annuals and fast growing vines, with Mrs Latrobe in her doorway, lovers in an arbour, or Bishop Perry on his verandah, The verandah was for over a century the important transition between house and garden - neither truly inside or outside, 14 Australian Garden History November/December 2004 V0I.16N0.3 a form of outdoor room. It often overlooked what could be termed a horticultural confection, well conveyed in the 1859 ‘view from the verandah’ at Gwyllehurst in East Melbourne, showing a disciplined colonial parterre contrived in sandy soil, in clear contrast to the random eucalypt forest beyond. The book’s main pictorial section (and exhibition catalogue) is preceded by some touching Leunig cartoons and two very fine essays. The first of these is a beautifully crafted and intimate account of Anne Latreille’s association with gardens - now we’ll always recall her first cigarette under the hedge, and the demise of the ancient apple tree. This is followed by Paul Fox’s insightful analysis of gardening as an expression of changing Australian society. One of the most important aspects of the book and the exhibition is an emphasis on recent, post World War II history, conveyed by contemporary publications, posters and telling icons. On one hand Edna Walling’s symbolic ‘Red Gums’ from The Australian Roadside (1952) and Jean Walker’s patterning with native plants (1966) are subdued and respectable approaches, in complete black and white contrast to the bold new 60s taste - of, say, mauve, turquoise and white accents, striking tropical foliage and a free-form swimming pool as foreground to a concrete and glass house - from the cover of Beryl Guertner’s Gregory’s Australian Guide to Better Outdoor Living (1965). Later, Howard Arkley’s psychedelic suburban dream (1993) or Tom Sitta and Richard Weller’s very abstract and sparely foliaged Garden of Australian Dreams (1997) at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra surprised with the ‘shock of the new’, by turning familiar elements completely on their heads. The concept of a national capital, with large scale planning and significant landscaping, has influenced our understanding of the possibilities of landscape architecture-a profession which barely existed in Australia in 1970-and one that is only just coming of age, with larger and better opportunities coming into view. It is refreshing to see Richard Aitken’s recent endeavours, both The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens (2002) and this book and exhibition opening up new facets and general public interest in garden history. In the 1970s Peter Watts began seriously examining major gardens and garden history for the National Trust in Victoria, and I had the good fortune to be commissioned to research and write The Great Gardens of Australia (1976) which led, in turn, to a major travelling exhibition and publication- Converting the Wilderness: The Art of Gardening in Colonial Australia (1979). This was used as a vehicle to encourage the formation of the Australian Garden History Society (1980), the latter’s initial activities and growth greatly assisted by the generous support of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. Now, 23 years later, the AGHS is well established, and we have a different garden and landscape circumstance, less traditional, more adventurous, and increasingly cognisant of environmental issues. While treasuring our past, Richard Aitken clearly shows us that we must recognise and nurture our present, and our future. In this vein, one wonders who is collecting the telling sketches of Tom Sitta, Anton James, Craig Burton or Taylor Cullity Lethlean? The Forest Flora of New South Wales (1904). Joseph Maiden’s advocacy of native plants, here the Grevillea robusta (silky oak) as illustrated by Margaret Flockton. The book and the exhibition show how two splendid productions of Australia-wide interest can be achieved within the relatively specific terms of reference of the State Library of Victoria. In undertaking this review, other profound images-of Solomon Wiseman’s Cobham Hall, on the Hawkesbury River, New South Wales (c.1830) or Henry Reveley’s My House and Garden in Western Australia (1833) - kept emerging from my memory, making me realise that, despite all our various endeavours, the definitive book on the history of Australia’s gardens is yet to appear. Perhaps Richard has it in his mind’s eye....in the meantime, enjoy these fruits of his labours. Howard Tanner heads Tanner Architects in Sydney. He was an early chairman of the AGHS and has written widely on architectural and landscape topics. A villa garden near Melbourne in 1888. Such photographs clearly convey the wealth and elaborate circumstance of such establishments during this boom period. THE BOOK THE EXHIBITION Gardenesque by Richard Aitken Miegunyah Press, Carlton, 2004. ISBN 0 522 85127 4 Until 27 February 2005 ioam-5pm daily Keith Murdoch Gallery State Library of Victoria V0I.16N0.3 November/December2004 Australian Garden History 15 mr +t(wr. rur. U^uyUfK-cju. £<<-ci ■ CmM' —, - LC cc C- LyV •X-'C ,-\ k-' ^ } / Letters from Mrs Rolf Boldrewood to Ellen Foreman BY PACITA ALEXANDER Tucked away on a bookshelf at Ellensville is a blue book with gold lettering is a blue book called Swiss Letters. It is inscribed to‘Ellen Foreman from her affectionate god-child Margaret Browne.’ Margaret Browne with her daughter Rose. W ho were Ellen Foreman and Margaret Browne, and what is their connection to Ellensville and each other? Ellen Foreman, nee Moore, came to Australia aged nearly three on a convict ship with her mother Elizabeth Moore and brother Joseph in 1820. Her father Edward Moore was already in Sydney, and both her parents were convicts. However the family worked ‘soberly, honestly and diligently’ and about 1835 Edward Moore was managing the property Raby, near Liverpool. This had been a grant to Alexander Riley in 1810, and Raby sheep won gold at the annual shows of the Australian Agricultural Society. In 1851 Edward bought Glendiver estate, near Camden, and in 1854 three of his sons bought the Hardwick estate across the creek. Edward and Elizabeth not only settled there themselves, they gave their two daughters, Ellen and heryoung sister Elizabeth, land on Hardwick. Perhaps this acted as a dowry, as Ellen married Richard Foreman in 1854, and Elizabeth married Thomas Inglis in 1856. Ellen’s marriage only lasted ten years as her husband died in 1864. She had no children, but when her brother Edward Lomas Moore’s wife died in 1868 she brought up his son, John. She built a new stone house with a shingled roof, and when John married Lizzie Inglis in 1892 they build a new stone house, linked to Ellen’s original house and called it Ellensville. Ellen lived with them in the new house till she died in 1907, aged ninety. Margaret Browne was born Margaret Maria Riley in 1837 and Alexander Riley of Raby was her grandfather. Orphaned before she was two, Margaret was at first brought up by her aunt Christiana Blomfield at Denham Court, where her mother Honoria grew up. Denham Court was a grand house with an extensive garden. When her aunt died in 1852, Margaret went to live with her cousins James Riley and his wife Christiana at Glenmore. In 1861 Margaret Riley married Thomas Browne, then a dashing squatter of uncertain fortune. He later published Robbery Under Arms, underthe name ‘Rolf Boldrewood’. This made him famous, so when Margaret published her own book, The Flower Garden in Australia, in 1893, she adopted his pen-name, and called herself‘Mrs Rolf Boldrewood’. This book was a remarkable achievement, as not only was it the first gardening book by a woman to be published in Australia, but she wrote it while bringing up a family of five girls and three boys, and creating innumerable gardens. She also found time for a lifelong correspondence with Ellen Foreman. How did they meet originally? I don’t know, but I imagine that Ellen Moore met Maggie Riley when Ellen lived at Raby and Maggie at Denham Court. The first letter in the collection of about forty that has survived at Ellensville was written in 1851. The fourteen-year-old Margaret starts off ‘How is my dear Ellen this morning’. After describingthe health problems of some visitors, she says ‘Oh 81 Ellen all the late peaches are ripe now. Cartloads rotting on the ground so if you wish for any to preserve you had better come immediately.’ She closes ‘with a li g ht kiss, believe me, yr ever affecte child, Margaret M. Riley.’ Ellen was thirty-four at this stage, twenty years older. For the rest of her life 16 Australian Garden History November/December 2004 V0I.16N0.3 Maggie Browne signed herself either ‘your loving’ or ‘fond’ or ‘affectionate’ child. No letters have survived to Ellen from the early period of Margaret’s marriage, which included many moves and many children, and financial ruin. Drought was the problem, and eventually Thomas Browne gave up life on the land, and became a Police Magistrate at Gulgong, then moved to Dubbo and Armidale, and finally worked for ten years in Albury. It was while the Brownes were at Dubbo that Robbery Under Arms first appeared as a serial, then as a successful book in 1888. Thomas had been writing to support his growing family from about 1870, and continued with novels and articles for forty years. They lived first at Morningside in Albury, then at Raby (Albury), where Margaret established a particularly fine garden, according to visitors. One of the constant themes in her letters was the weather, understandably, and she wrote from Morningside about 1886 ‘What a grand thingfor every one the good plentiful rain coming. I hope your grass is fine and green and your animals all doing well.’ The social life of the daughters, who shuttle between friends and relatives, is another frequent topic. In April 1888 Margaret wrote to thank Ellen for having her daughter Emily to stay, continuing with ‘Many thanks for the lovely ham, 8< the cheese is a beauty, and the honey too [is] pronounced v ery g ood.’ Margaret’s book was published in 1893, but she never mentioned it, writing from her married daughter Emma’s home in Mulwala in July 1893 ‘I must have a peep at your new house some day & have a grub in your garden. The garden here looks very sad from the frost but we have quantities of violets out 81 white marguerites, 8< every day people come & ask for chrysanthemum plants.... I got a man in and had the garden made for her when she first came & helped him plant nearly everything in it. Its called my garden because I always get a man 8» do it up when I come down ... I will send you a few new chrysanthemums when I go home next, pot them up... directly they begin to grow give them (putting it roughly on the top of the ground round the plants) lots of old cow manure - get some child to collect you some old stuff from out of the paddocks that is the best.’ This would not have been difficult as John Moore had three dairies on Ellen’s land. In 1895 ‘Mr Browne’ as his wife always calls him, retired, and the family moved to Melbourne, with four unmarried daughters, Rose, Cori, Emily and Vera. Margaret’s beloved ‘Ebbo’ or Everard, and Tom were married, and Gerald working elsewhere. The Brownes lived first in Maralmee, Toorak, and in March 1896 ‘dear Ebbo came to see me last night and Frank Blomfield Richard’s son. We were so happy together all singing and having great fun.’ The social whirl continued, Margaret writing ‘We have had a gay week... there were some races and polo races & Mr Browne and I lunched at Govt. House... We love a merry party.’ In April 1896 she wrote to ‘My Dearest Ellen’ that ‘the house feels quite funny -1 have only Cori at home... I have some lovely roses out I wish you could see them.’ Later in April ‘Rose and Emily are having such a gay time in Sydney. Two or three balls this week & the races. Gerald 81 Emily dined at Govt. House & enjoyed it so much ... the governor Lord Brassey asked Emily to dance the lancers with him, which she did in the vice-regal set... She felt very grand you may be sure.’ Ellen Foreman at Ellensville, 1899, holding Eric, with his parents )ohn and Lizzie Moore, and his siblings Grace, Hilda and Gidley. There are only glimpses of Mr Browne in the letters, but we can hope their fifty-four year marriage was a happy one. In July 1897 Margaret wrote My girls have all gone to bed, letters to Ellen Foreman. Mr Browne is reading, so I will have a chat with you.’ In 1905 Margaret sent ‘every fond wish’ for Christmas, then wrote ‘Mr Browne & I are going to have a quiet dinner at home on Christmas day 81 then go up to see Emily in the afternoon & stay to supper there.’ Perhaps Mr Browne did not help much in the garden, judging by a wistful note in Margaret’s letter in 1903 ‘I spent yesterday with my daughter Cori. Her garden is looking so pretty, her husband waters it of an evening for her.’ Cori, Emily, Vera and Gerald had all married in 1900. Rose remained with her parents, much loved by both. In 1895 Margaret wrote about Rose’s return from a trip ‘I shall be glad to have her back. I miss her so very much -she always helps me in V0I.16N0.3 November/December2004 Australian Garden History 17 Left: Ellensville, home of Ellen Foreman Right: Denham Court, childhood home of Margaret Browne (nee Riley). everything.’ Rose’s father had bought a typewriter in 1893, and all the girls typed his stories for him, but Rose was his mainstay. Any mention of flowers and gardening is of particular interest, with human interest as well in Margaret’s letter of 1904 - ‘Emily writes from New Zealand - that the climate is lovely there - she rides every day & she & her husband do so much gardening-which amuses me for Emily never wd garden at home’. In 1898 Margaret, aged sixty-one, was writing enthusiastically about moving into a new house in South Yarra - ‘the rooms are good & have been freshly papered with pretty papers - & the garden is much better than this & can be made very pretty. I have been down every day this week 0 I I I I I 1 I 1 I 1 I I I 1 i 1 i I I 1 Temples, Tigers and The Taj 15 Days - India in Depth OCTOBER 2005 Join Australian writer Christine Reid for this fascinating tour of Indian art, architecture and natural features. Christine and her many interesting contacts in India will introduce you to the rich and diverse cultures that make up the great subcontinent. An information evening will be held on Monday 29 November. Please call Gippsland Travel on 1800 620 015 for details. www.gippslandtravel.com.au email: jacquey@gippslandtravel.com.au Lie No 31939 I I 1 1 1 1 planting out roses 8: making borders of English primroses, one of daisies, one of double mauve violets, one of double white & a long one of single purple violets, had the lawn topdressed & a numberofworn out shrubs & old geraniums taken out.’ There may still be an old geranium at Ellensville, given to either her ‘dearest Ellen’ by her ‘fond child Maggie’, or possibly to Lizzie Moore. My fatherTom Inglis Moore, one of John and Lizzie’s sons, wrote in his booklet Rolf Boldrewood I myself remember her inspecting our homestead garden [Ellensville] near Camden on her visits to my motherand bringing gifts of plants - indeed, there is still one growing, known by my family as “Mrs Browne’s geranium”. I remember her as a lady of considerable character, charm and kindliness.’ She certainly emerges from her letters as energetic, loving and caring. Maggie Browne gave Swiss Letters to her godmother Ellen Foreman, but it is her own very Australian letters which are her gift to us. Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge with gratitude permission to use quotations from Margaret M. Browne’s letters from Gavin Casey, and permission to reproduce her picture from Juliet M. McFarlane. References Paul de Serville, Rolf Boldrewood: a life, Melbourne, The Miegunyah Press, 2000. T. Inglis Moore, Rolf Boldrewood, Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1968. Pacita Alexander lives at Ellensville, and recently published, with Elizabeth Perkins, a book on her father, A Love Affair with Australian Literature: the story of Tom Inglis Moore. 18 Australian Garden History November/December 2004 V0I.16N0.3 Howard Tanner reports on the 25 th Annual National Conference in Sydney Friday 15 October Colleen Morris introduced the Conference to the realities of a drought-prone landscape and the need for appropriate plant choices and water management, while a tartan-kilted Stuart Read reminded us of the many prominent early Scottish garden owners and Scottish-trained gardeners. Craig Burton mentioned how the early settlers had sought to make the unfamiliar landscapes of the Sydney basin their own, partly by clearing, felling, farming and gardening, and by the transplanting of British names, for example: the County of Cumberland, and the towns of Windsor, Penrith, Campbelltown, etc. His talk gave us important insights into the many layers of the Sydney region, including: • The logical aboriginal regions • The depositional delta - of alluviums, with occasional volcanic outlets, over a granite base • The pattern of rivers, estuaries, and the marine interface • The original pattern of native vegetation, and what little remains of it after 200 years of white settlement Craig’s images of Sydney’s various natural landscapes provided beautiful visual cameos of the region. How can more of the original circumstance be regained? Surely this is a topic worthy of a future lecture. Tim Entwisle, of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, spoke of the history and evolution of these gardens, and their related scientific role. While it is the oldest entity of its kind in Australia, and has an impressive, 7000-strong Friends group, it needs to consolidate its public standing and role across its several holdings, to become the premier botanic enterprise of the Southern Hemisphere. Tim told of the competing demands on the Gardens and the Domain, and the need for succession planning and planting to ensure an on-going garden presentation that would be both familiar, yet differing in detail. Some will recall John Patrick’s lecture on this topic at an early AGHS conference. Elizabeth Ellis, the Mitchell Librarian, told of the influence in early NSW of the Age of Enlightenment, which encouraged an inquiring mind and the production of informative watercolours and texts. The eighteenth century had also pursued the theme of improvement, both physical and social, and this is demonstrated in the Macquaries’ constructive attitude to the infant settlements of the colony, and the role of convicts and emancipists. Later Charles Darwin was to comment that NSW could be shown to be the greatest social experiment that Britain had ever undertaken, where people who were held to be genetically bad, were generally found -when provided with a small window of opportunity - to become worthwhile citizens. Sydney Harbour quickly inspired the creation of splendid homes in beautiful settings. For me the most telling images in her talk were of Elizabeth Bay House, where she contrasted Conrad Martens’ serene artistic vision with the rugged sandstone outcrops and wild angophora forest evident in an early photo from the Mort Collection. Elizabeth noted the strong sense of commitment to a new life in the wilderness. Whether at Dalwood in the Hunter or at Yulgelbar on the Clarence, the successful settlers sought to make their own version of Arcadia through what she termed ‘Acts of Possession’. James Broadbent related the story of his historic bungalow ‘The Cottage’ (1809-11) at Mulgoa, once at the very edge of settlement - and how he had worked to provide it with a setting evocative of colonial times. Latter-day Lady Franklins had commented that he was clever as ‘he hadn’t done too much’, orthat it James Boadbent’s ‘The Cottage’ at Mulgoa. Australian Garden History V0I.16N0.3 November/December2004 19 At the Conference (Lto R) Richard Heathcote, Colleen Morris and Suzanne Hunt. was a ‘Kath and Kim’ garden -tough and dead common. He spoke of his appreciation of Edwardian gardeners in England and their successes in creating slightly drowsy romantic settings for historic houses - inventing a charmed world, doubtless more engaging than the original. John Adam from New Zealand had received a Fulbright Fellowship that enabled him to study Californian gardens and gardening in the 1920s, in particular the career of Fred Tschopp who was active in both California and New Zealand during the period. Hortus has shown that this was a particularly interesting period in California, and it would be worthwhile for the AGHS to explore this topic further, as American influence in Australia during the 1920s and 30s was profound, but as yet not well researched or understood. Silas Clifford-Smith described the three NationalTrust gardens he is responsible for: • Everglades at Leura • The Norman Lindsay Museum at Falconbridge • Experiment Farm Cottage at Parramatta Limited current funding requires enormous personal effort on the part of Silas and a group of dedicated volunteers to maintain these properties for public viewing. Everglades contains a most significant 30s modernist garden, and this deserves serious conservation and re-presentation; however such an initiative is currently beyond the available resources. Experiment Farm Cottage has recently regained its northern garden and a more expansive setting - yet such an important event has gained little publicity and has barely entered public consciousness. These are very pressing realities for bodies such as the NSW NationalTrust; while they need a pattern of re-vitalisation to survive as important community organizations, it must be noted that government assistance for privately-owned listed heritage properties is at an obvious low. Peter Nixon spoke of‘best fit’ in selecting plants to suit Sydney’s growing conditions, and to achieve a sub-tropical look by using tough plants for tough conditions. He told of the moves to identify and market these through the Designers Growers Network. This is an important topic that deserves a more detailed explanation. David Gray, head gardener for the Historic Houses Trust of NSW discussed the issues related to credibly maintaining and presenting Vaucluse House as a 19th century gentleman’s estate on poor soil in drought conditions. Gillian Davies outlined the illustrious career of the Colonial Botanist Charles Fraser, including his Scottish training and his numerous collecting trips around New South Wales, Van Dieman’s Land, New Zealand, Norfolk Island and even to the Swan River. I remain amazed by the number of colonial travellers who must have travelled by sailing ship in a state of anxiety, as they had never learned to swim. For those fortunate enough to get to the Conference Dinner, we were informed and amused by Peter Valder, who must be one of Sydney’s funniest public speakers - surely soon to appear on ABC story tapes. Peter told us of his stay in Britain c.1954, when serious British gardening and the Royal Horticultural Society were dominated by aristocrats and wealthy bankers. The image of the young colonial visitor on his first Scottish garden tour - at one point, on foot, following a noble couple in chauffer-driven Morris Minor around their grand garden - provided hilarious and telling vignettes into a now vanished world of upper class gardening, with vast estates and numerous staff. Saturday 16 October Barbara Buchanan gave us a most important insight into the ‘Sydney School’ of landscape architects, who were active in the 1970s and 80s: Bruce Rickard, Bruce Mackenzie, and most particularly, her former colleague and mentor, the late Harry Howard. At that time the impact of new parks and gardens, formed with native plants amongst shelves of Sydney sandstone or against the sandy foreshores of the harbour, was profound. Simple, but important opportunities -the conversion of industrial wasteland at Peacock Point on Sydney Harbour at Balmain 20 Australian Garden History November/December 2004 V0I.16N0.2 (by Mackenzie) into attractive public open space, the edging of Botany Bay with new lagoons, wetlands and banksia-topped sand- dunes (also by Mackenzie) or the transformation of dreary areas of speculative medium-density housing at Lane Cove (by Howard) -have coloured our view of what Sydney is, and what Sydney can be. At Lane Cove the landscape had been debased by the wholesale clearing of vegetation and the scraping of sites for the construction of bald blocks of home units, and here Howard pursued a process of landscape ‘retro-fit’- creating new, child-friendly, urban bushland with mulched soils and stands of tall eucalypts. Harry Howard’s most important individual commission was the provision of a setting for the Sculpture Garden of the Australian National Gallery in Canberra. Here flat, sandy areas to the north of the building-as found, all quite unprepossessing-became, over a few years, a magical wooded backdrop to important artworks. The currently departing director had no idea of the special achievement that they represented, and talked about changing them. Fortunately Barbara’s timely advocacy has brought their significance clearly into view. Noel Merrick provided some most interesting statistics about water now, and in the future, namely: • 2.5% of the world’s water is fresh • 66% of that is ice and snow • 0.3% of the fresh water is held in rivers, lakes and reservoirs • 30% of the fresh water is ground water (i.e. below the surface) Merrick spoke of the importance of everyone moving away from a total reliance on the use of mains water, and thus the relevance of water storage tanks, and of the use of grey water for irrigation and secondary purposes. Loss of water through evaporation is an important consideration-those of you who know the Riverina can reflect on the profligate nature of the open canals and the pouring of water across open agricultural lands. Helen Armstrong’s topic was ‘Gardens of Hope’. She contemplated what gardens are, and what they can be for us. They provide hope that one can start again. Philosophers had stated: ‘hope arises in a break with the past’ ...’hope is a joyful revolt’. Brave new gardens offered a new vision at many levels, and indicated the need to belong to a place. In Australia there was a longing for water, and the use of powerful rainforest species, such as figs, giving a lush appearance to a parched main street, was a reflection of this. On a broader world scale, she told of the special role of the international garden festivals (such as that at Chaumont in France) to explore the different messages available through garden design. The restoration of the lost gardens at Heligan in Cornwall, rather than emphasizing elite ownership, had brought home the message of stewardship, while, nearby, the Eden Project - with various micro¬ climates under vast, translucent domes- offered a diverse plant gene pool for the future. Howard Tanner spoke of the need for institutions and professional bodies to re-invent themselves from time to time- by pursuing new initiatives and exploring avenues for enlarged membership. Twenty-five years ago the English National Trust model provided a framework for Australian conservation bodies - he felt that it was no longer appropriate or applicable for Australia. While heritage and conservation in Australia are currently in somethingof a trough, and certainly appearto be off any political agenda, a growing interest in gardens and gardening, and in design generally, is evident. More recent history was now being explored, and it was very pleasing to learn during the Conference of the adventurous recent purchase of Robin Boyd’s house in South Yarra by the National Trust in Victoria. The creation of exciting new contemporary landscapes, such as the public gardens at Mount Penang, just off the F3 at Kariong, near Gosford (by Anton James with Diana Pringle, Geoffrey Britton, Craig Burton, and others), the new Sydney Harbour foreshore parks, or Craig Burton’s expansive native plantings across a valley in the Hunter region, while all in their infancy, could form the basis of a future conference, perhaps centred on Newcastle. This might take a broader view of garden history, and while outlining the story of gardens in the region, would aim to provide a good understanding of new directions in Australian gardens and designed landscapes. V0I.16N0.3 November/December 2004 Au ST The Garden at Yaralla Al 1 an Garden History 21 NATIONAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE 2004-2005 New members of the NMC for the forthcoming year are Eleanor Dartnall (New South Wales), Malcolm Faul (Victoria), Sarah Lucas (New South Wales) and Christine Reid (Victoria). Re-elected members are Max Bourke (ACT) and Stuart Read (New South Wales). State representatives are Glenn Cooke (QLD), John Isbel (VIC), Wendy Joyner (SA), Ivan Saltmarsh (TAS), Jill Scheetz (ACT), Tessa Watson (WA) and Chris Webb (NSW). The executive is Colleen Morris from New South Wales (Chair), Glenn Cooke from Queensland (Vice-Chair), Malcolm Faul from Victoria (Treasurer) and Di Wilkins from South Australia (Secretary). THANKS The extra work of inserting the Annual General Report into every membership envelope for the last mail-out was speedily and cheerfully done by Di Ellerton, Mai and Fran Faul, Phillip Goode, Jane Johnson, Beverley and John Joyce, Sandi Pullman, Ann Rayment, Sandra Torpey, Georgina Whitehead and Elizabeth Wright. Their work was greatly appreciated. JOHN D BROOKES M C, 1921-2004 John Dougan Brookes died on 24 August. He was Director of National Parks in Victoria from 1975 to 1979, then Director of Conservation until 1982 and guided the expansion of the parks estate following the passage of the National Parks Act 1975. Born on 29 June 1921, John Brookes grew up at Flinthill, Woodend and was educated at Geelong Grammar. He enlisted in the Army in 1941 rising to the rank of Captain in the 57/6oth Australian Infantry Battalion and was awarded a Military Cross for his role in the New Guinea campaigns. After the war he obtained a Master of Science in botany with his study of the ecology of Mountain Ash in the Wallaby Creek catchment, north of Melbourne. He then worked with the family company, Australian Paper Mills, for nearly two decades and became technical director. From his mother in her cool climate garden at Flinthill, he learnt about plants especially conifers. Family friends, the Ansells gave their garden, Pirianda in the Dandenongs to the National Parks Service during John’s time as director. He further developed his love of gardens with his wife Marian, who was a founding member of the Victorian branch of the AGHS, and with daughter Margaret, they attended many garden functions. John maintained his interest in trees and was a keen dendrologist travelling overseas in this pursuit. But his great love was fly fishing, an enchantment which captured him in his youth and culminated in his fascinating history of these endeavours, especially in the Tasmanian Great Lakes. This book, Lifelong Pleasure, was launched just eleven days before his death. John Brookes’ legacy was laying the foundations for a solid park system in the 1970s and creating a professional parks service. He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters. He will be remembered by all for his striving for excellence. Jane L Lennon AM 22 Australian Garden History November/December 2004 V0I.16N0.3 DECEMBER Sundays'"' Western Australia, Perth Christmas Functional Tranby House. Contact: Edith Young through Young_ee47@hotmail.com or John Viska (08) 93281515. Wednesday8 Victoria, Melbourne Christmas Walk, Talk and BYO Picnic in Edinburgh Gardens, North Fitzroy (Melway 2C 2D) led by Lorraine Nadebaum. See p.24. Meet at Captain Cook Memorial in Alfred Cr. opposite Rowe St. at 6pm Enquiries: Lorrie Lawrence (03) 54271328. Saturday 11 Tasmania, Pontville Christmas Function: garden party in the beautiful grounds of Marlbrook at Pontville. Enquiries: Alison Parsons (03)62249522. Wednesday 15 Sydney, Observatory Hill 6pm Research Forum, Gardens of Memory Project 8. Christmas Party. Members speak for a maximum of 10 minutes each about a topic they are researching or a project they have completed. For enquiries and expressions of interest contact Silas Clifford-Smith (02) 9569 3417. AGHS members $10, others $12.00. Victoria, Melbourne Working Bee at Bishopscourt. Contact: Helen Page (03) 9397 2260. 2005 JANUARY Saturday 8> Sunday 29 & 30 Victoria, Castlemaine Working Bees at Buda and Tute’s Cottage. Contact: Helen Page (03) 9397. FEBRUARY Thursday 10 * Victoria, Melbourne Walk and Talk at St Heliers (Melway 2D C8-9) led by Pam Jellie. Meet at 6.00pm for 6.30. Contact: Pam Jellie (03) 98361881. MARCH Monday 21* Victoria, Melbourne ‘A Walk round my garden’ by Richard Heathcote and Helen Botham at Como (Melway 2M D5). Gates open at 5.30pm for picnic tea followed by presentation at 7-8-3opm. Members $15 (non-members $20). Bookings essential. Contact: Helen Botham (03) 95831114. * indicates an activity organized byAGHS •I ■K <4 SUBSCRIPTIONS Photocopy this form or visit our website www.gardenhistorysociety.org.au l/we wish to become a member of the Australian Garden History Society and enclose the appropriate subscription Dr/Mr/Mrs/Ms. Address. Phone (home) ( ).(Business) ( )...E-mail . State.Postcode. □ 3 year Individual Member $150 □ 3 year Household Membership $190 □ 3 year Corporate Membership $550 □ Do you require a tax invoice? Yes/No Subscription Rates (GST inclusive). Please tick the appropriate category □ Individual Member$55 □ Household Membership $75 (2 adults and children) □ Corporate Membership $200 (Company, Institution, Library) Q Student $20 (25 years and under) □ * General Donation of $. Cheque/Money Order enclosed: $. (Please make cheques payable to the Australian Garden History Society) Please debit my credit card: O Visacard □ Mastercard □ Bankcard Card No l_l_l_l_J_l_l_l_l_l_l_l_l_l_l_l_l. Expiry Date. Name.Cardholder’s Signature. AUSTRALIAN GARDEN HISTORY" ‘Donations: The Australian Garden History Society is affiliated with the Australian Council of National Trusts and is thereby able to benefit from the Trusts' tax deductible status. Donations are welcome and should be made payable to the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and forwarded to the AGHS, Gate Lodge, 100 Birdwood Avenue, Melbourne 3004. Membership benefits: Receipt of the Society’s official Journal Australian Garden History 6 times a year. Garden related seminars and conferences. Lectures and garden visits. Opportunity to contribute to preserving gardens for posterity through working bees and advocacy. V0I.16N0.3 November/December 2004 Australian Garden History 23 E dinburgh Gardens are regarded as the ‘jewel in the crown’ within the City of Yarra - and rightfully so. The gracious nineteenth century parktands represent the most significant heritage public garden in the municipality. Covering almost 16 hectares the gardens honour Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Victoria’s younger son who visited Australia in 1867-68 - although there is no record of his having visited Fitzroy. He is further commemorated by Alfred Crescent which abuts the northern and western boundaries of the site. Queen Victoria herself was commemorated in the Gardens with a memorial statue erected in 1902 after her death. However, the statue which is believed to have been constructed of timber, disappeared - probably in the 1930s. The unoccupied pedestal remains as an enigmatic reminder of cultural sentiment in a former era ofVictorian history. The Gardens were first set aside as a public reserve in 1862. From the outset they included designated areas for active recreation as well as ornamental passive parklands. Originally two cricket grounds reflected the sporting enthusiasm of the growing suburban population of the day. These soon amalgamated into a single facility which became the home of the Fitzroy Cricket Club and the former Fitzroy Football Club. As such the site formed a focus of cultural and social life in Fitzroy, especially during the 1930 depression when the largely working class suburb was severely affected. The Cricket Ground with its two impressive grandstands (one of which was lost to fire in 1977) became part of Victorian sporting history. Notable players and personalities included Haydn Bunton, a triple Brownlow medallist, and Pastor Doug Nichotls a former player, an outstanding leader of the local indigenous community and the first Aboriginal Governor. The main layout and early planting in the Gardens was predominantly carried out in the 1880s. It includes extensive avenue plantings of Dutch Elm which now form some of the glories of the parklands, as well as several ‘mysterious’ circle planting of the species. Ornamental features that still grace the parklands include a rotunda bandstand constructed in 1925 in a neo-classical style, an unusual concrete arbour memorial to members of the sporting clubs who were lost in World War 1 , and the charming Chandler drinking fountain. A colourful aspect of the history of the Gardens has been the repeated appropriation of parkland for a range of industrial and community service functions. These include the construction of a rail line through the centre of the site in the 1880s which operated until 1981. In the mid twentieth century the rail sidings were occupied by industrial operations that included a tin manufacturing company and timber yard-surely an unusual if dubious distinction amongst Victoria’s heritage gardens. Other sections of the Gardens were occupied by a Council Nursery and Depot, with the Ladies Bowling Club and Infant Welfare Centre appropriating additional sites in the 1950s and 1970s respectively. Fortunately, the land formerly occupied by the railway and industry was returned to the Gardens in the 1990s, and during the past yearthe Council Depot has been demolished and the land reincorporated into the Gardens as open space. The former Ladies Bowling Club (now amalgamated with the men’s club on the western side of the Gardens) is also planned to be demolished and returned to parkland use. The City of Yarra has recently completed a Conservation Management Plan and a Master Plan with widespread community consultation and support. This will guide future work and management in the Gardens in a manner which will protect its heritage significance while catering for contemporary community recreation needs. Lorraine Nadebaum who carried out much of the preparation for the Conservation Management Plan and the Master Plan for the Edinburgh Gardens will lead a walk through them on 8 December.