thing's apples: ueoff^it collections ■il ^ L Designs on history: P. reports from the 2006 annual conferencet in Adelaide § iralion Garden History is the leader in concern for and conservation of significant cultural landscapes and historic gardens through committed, relevant and sustainable action. Patrons Executive Officer Publication 100 Birdwood Avenue, Melbourne, 3004 Subscriptions (GST inclusive) For 1 year Single $55 Family $75 Corporate $200 Youth $20 (under 25 years of age) Non-profit $75 Advertising Rates Editorial Advisory Panel Members Glenn Cooke Anne Latreilte Max Bourke David Jones Megan Martin Paul Fox Richard Aitken Prue 5 la!yer ChrisiopherVe Cover: Wax models of apples in the collection of Adelaide's Museum of Economic Botany, from "Seeds of Change: an illustrated history of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens (2006), Richard Aitken. A review will appear in the next edition of Australian Garden History. Photo: Paul Atkins (Atkins Technicolour) insertions in journals such as ours and the average financial contribution was twice the Australian average donation. The Tasmanian Land Conservancy is appreciative of‘this marvellous contribution to a unique place of cultural and environmental heritage in Australia.’ A forum to be held on 26-28 February and Dr Ed Duyker’s letter in this issue indicates that Recherche (Research) Bay was well named. All members will join with me in congratulating Peter Watts. It is most satisfying that this contribution has been acknowledge in the AM citation, on his recent Australia Day Honour. Peter played a pivotal role in the formation of the Society and its continuing development over 25 years. It is most satisfying that this contribution has been acknowledged in the citation,"For leadership in the conservation and preservation of cultural heritage in Australia, particularly through the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales and the Australian Garden History Society, and to the arts." Peter, we applaud you. Tony Fawcett, the editor appointed to Australian Garden History during 2006 resigned for personal reasons and we thank him for completing three issues of the journal. I extend a very warm welcome to Genevieve Jacobs who has taken over as the editor. Genevieve’s voice will be well known to ABC Canberra listeners. Genevieve has worked as a freelance journalist and most recently as the co-ordinator for Australia’s Open Garden Scheme in the ACT and Southern NSW. She has a large country garden and is acutely aware of the challenges currently facing gardeners in rural Australia. Colleen Morris Recherche Bay and its conservation has been area of interest during the past year and so we were delighted to hear that by October 2006 AG HS members had donated $8,355 towards the repayment of the interest free loan from Dick and Pip Smith. The response rate was ten times as high as the ‘statistical average response’ for flyer O An a hot January day I would like to wish all our members a rewarding 2007. Members will be hoping that this year brings good rain. The National Management Committee met in conjunction with our Adelaide conference and we were pleased to be able to see that our focus on membership during 2006 appears to have had an impact. Membership numbers are slightly improved on the previous year. All of us play a part in this and I would like to thank each member for your continuing support for the Society. In particular I acknowledge the local branch committees who work extremely hard to plan activities that make our membership more enjoyable. CONTENTS A call to action . Max Bourke.4 In the case of the missing notebook . Colin Mills ..4 Designs on history . Christina Vos.5 Meet the NMC Chair - Colleen Morris . Garden History interview . 9 Buda, not just an historic garden? . Lauretta Zilles.12 Marybank - a find in Adelaide’s hills . Stuart Read and Sue Lloyd .14 Everything’s apples - fruit collections past and present . Bruce Draper.16 Heritage fruit cultivar collections . Allen Gilbert .18 For the bookshelf.20 2 Australian Garden History February/March/April 2007 Vol. 18 No. 4 NEW - THE GREEN BOOK COMPANY GARDENS OF EUROPE A Traveller's Guide Charles Quest-Ritson DUE 1ST MAY For over 2000 years, European gardens have provided the greatest single influence upon gardening throughout the world.This survey ranges from Ireland to Georgia and from Russia to Sicily.The book includes over 600 gardens—the definitive reference to most of the great gardens of the world. There is a shortlist of the Great Gardens of Europe and a Plants Collections Guide. It has everything to recommend it. — Penelope Hobhouse An astonishing achievement - an overview of European gardening... From Ireland... to Russia all in one volume. — Peter Voider This huge project, which took nearly six years to complete, was written by European gardens expert Charles Quest-Ritson and published by Warwick Forge—a founding member of the AGHS. (hardback, over 600 gardens, 400 pp and nearly 600 photos) Price: $89.95 Pre-publication offer $69.95 SEEDS OF CHANGE An Illustrated History of Adelaide Botanic Garden Richard Aitken Published to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Garden, this is a sumptuous feast of beautiful historic and botanical illustrations painting the history of this great garden since its foundation.The book also traces the role of the garden and suggests that it can continue to be a forum for ideas and a catalyst for change. A very beautiful publication, (at an excellent price), in keeping with the outstanding quality we now expect from author Richard Aitken. Hardback $49.95—our price $39.95 (signed copies) GARDEN OF A LIFETIME Dame Elisabeth Murdoch at Cruden Farm Anne Latreille describes the long and fascinating evolution of Cruden Farm from the early designs of Edna Walling to what it is today—one of Australia's most notable gardens. With its iconic avenue of lemon scented gums, the garden opens up to a series of garden rooms and vistas. Latreille carefully documents Dame Elisabeth Murdoch's passion for gardening over time. The photographic coverage of Ben Wrigley and others make for a stunningly beautiful record. Don't stint yourself—buy the hardback version at our special price! Hardback RRP $77.00 our price $59.95 Softback RRP $59.95 our price $45.00 AUSTRALIAN NATIVE PLANTS Cultivation, Landscaping and Propagation Wrigley & Fagg This enlarged and revised fifth edition is the finest single volume on the subject of native plants—on selection, cultivation and much else. The bulk of the book is concerned with a wealth of information on thousands of plants making it an essential reference for every gardener! Over 160,000 copies sold. Hardback $99.95 our price $49.95 Order Form THE GREEN BOOK COMPANY ABN 28 605 695 988 Tel: (03) 94278866 Fax: (03) 9427 9066 sales@greenbook.com.au www.greenbook.com. au MAILORDER PO BOX 5255 BURNLEY 3121 Prices vaiid until JUNEIst 2007 Name. Address. Date:././. State. P/Code. Ph.(OfficeHrs). Fax. Card No / / / Expiry / Name on Card. Signature. TITLE Our Price Gardens of Europe 69.95 Seeds of Change 39.95 Garden of a Lifetime (HB) 59.95 Garden of a Lifetime (PB) 45.00 Australian Native Plants 45.00 Sub Total Postage & handling (Aust) Total 8.00 GARDENS TOUR OF CHILE! Travel with Warwick and Sue Forge on a gardens tour of Chile. For information and an itinerary, contact Australians Studying Abroad Tel - 03 9822 6899 E - info@asatours.com.au www.asatours.com.au HISTORY SOCIETY Tasmania in the autumn FRIDAY APRIL 27 TO SUNDAY MAY 6, 2007 Join Trisha Dixon and Jackie Courmadias for nine wonderful days and nights in Tasmania with The Australian Garden History Society Autumn 20C7 tour. Amazing gardens, sculpture, landscape, art, architecture, history, botany and interesting people with a special emphasis on the art, writing and life of Louisa Meredith and John Glover. Visits to the gardens of Cambria, Summerholme, Beaufront, Bentley, Susan Irvine’s Forest Hall and Fairie Nielsen’s Pigeon Hill are just some of the highlights of this tour. The tour commences in Launceston on the evening of Friday April 27 at the Mercure Earlington, where the group stay for three nights, followed by one night at Freycinet Lodge and a gentle (optional) walk to Wineglass Bay, followed by five nights at The Lenna in Hobart. The tour finishes at Launceston airport on afternoon of Sunday 6 May. All meals and entries are included and itinerary, map and tour notes will be provided at commencement of tour. Tour price $2800 for AGHS members $3000 for non members (based on twin share). Bookings and enquiries/itinerary: Jackie Courmadias, AGHS Ph:(03) 9650 5043 Email: info@gardenhistorysocietv.org.au Bookings and payment should be made on the form below and posted to: AGHS, Gate Lodge, 100 Birdwood Avenue. Melbourne Victoria 3004 - X - Tasmania in the Autumn 27 April - 6 May 2007 Name(s) Mr/Mrs/Ms/Dr . Address . Phone. Home: .Bus: . . Email: . Please tick accommodation required: □ Double □ Single (single supplement $757.50) □ Twin Share with. Indicate any special dietary requirements. Cheques payable to 'Australian Garden History Society' or Credit card Card type (please circle) Visa Mastercard $. Name on Credit Card.Card No:. Expiry Date. Signature A call to action From left: Brian Voce and NMCvice chair Max Bourke, narrator Trisha Dixon and executive producer Chris Hindes at the November launch of the Canberra DVD, held at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. National Management Committee member and ACT/Monaro/Riverina branch member Max Bourke argues that the new media is a particularly appropriate place in which to explore garden history, following the successful launch ofthe DVD “A Gardener’s City-Canberra’s Garden Heritage”. Could this be the first of many similar projects? O nce in a while members should look at the Society’s mission which is: The Australian Garden History Society is the leader in concern for and conservation of significant cultural landscapes and historic gardens through committed, relevant and sustainable action. To fulfil that mission statement the branches and central office undertake a range of projects, undertake research, produce and support publications, and argue the case, in the wider community, for conservation ofthe human artefacts called gardens and the landscapes in which they occur. By definition most of our members are interested in gardening itself and most or many of them are interested in the biological and geological background of sites that allow us to design and build gardens. Of course the cultural ideas within which those gardens are created gives us a rich understanding ofthe ideas of people, places and time. Up until recently our documentation work has involved the regular production of this Journal, the proceedings of our conferences, the occasional monograph on a specific topic and the mighty Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens. More recently we have engaged, with the specific support ofthe Kindred Spirits Fund on our newer scholarly venture Studies in Australian Garden History, with so far two volumes produced, and much more awaiting publication from both within and outside academia. NATIONAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE Chair Colleen Morris Vice-Chair Max Bourke 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 Nina Crone VIC State Representatives Jill Scheetz ACT Cecily Dean QLD Wendy Joyner SA Ivan SaltmarshTAS Wendy Dwyer VIC Edith Young WA BRANCH CONTACTS ACT/Monaro/Riverina Branch Madeleine Maple PO Box 4055 Manuka ACT 2603 mmaple@netspeed.com.au Queensland Branch Keith Jorgensen 14 Petrina St Eight Mile Plains 4113 Ph: 07 33413933 jorgenkg@picknowl.com.au South Australian Branch Di Wilkins 39 Elizabeth Street Eastwood SA 5068 Ph: (08) 82729381 diwilkinsi@bigpond.com Southern Highlands Branch Chris Webb PO Box 707 Moss Vale NSW 2577 Ph: (02) 48614899 cwebb@cwebb.com.au Sydney & Northern NSW Stuart Read Ph: (w) (02) 9873 8554 stuart.read@heritage.nsw.gov.au Tasmanian Branch Ivan Saltmarsh 125 Channel Road TaroonaTAS 7053 Ph: (03) 62278515 ivanof@bigpond.com Victorian Branch Pamela Jellie 5 Claremont Crescent Canterbury VIC 3126 Ph: (03) 98361881 pdjellie@hotmail.com Western Australian Branch Sue Monger 9 Rosser Street Cottesloe.WA 6011 Vol. 18 No. 4 February/March/April 2007 Australian Garden History 3 But the 21st century will be about new forms and types of publishing, both on the web and on media like DVDs. Many scholarly and much public writing is created for and on these media. This Society has to look to the ways it is to use those media and to the way members want to receive their information. While certainly a majority of us, and I am sure this applies to our present members, still get huge pleasure from both the journal and more substantial publications like Richard Aitken’s superb Botanical Riches, we have to begin exploringthe use of‘new media’. One of the reasons the ACT, Riverina and Monaro branch of the Society committed to the production of A Gardener’s City - Canberra’s Garden Heritage was to ‘test’ these ideas. Brian Voce in his production and writing set out to combine both intellectual power of the best scholars working on this topic with the hard work of those creating gardens in it. Presented by our experienced historian and television presenter, Trisha Dixon, the resulting DVD undertakes a solid intellectual interrogation of the idea of gardening on the Limestone Plains and the historical evolution of this process. Support for the project was received from Government and private sponsors, philanthropists and the production company itself. It is our hope that this will be the first of a number of such projects and we would like to encourage each State branch to begin planning how they might approach such a project. The “end product” in say 5-10 years would be a suite of productions reflecting the history of gardening in each geographical zone of Australia. The idea would not be to have a ‘template’ for their production, indeed the ways in which they were approached themselves would form an appreciation of the different regional approaches to garden history around Australia. Of course the differences in geography and social history will make the story lines quite different, but that is as it should be. So here is the challenge to all branches, let us start using the 21st century media to start the process of documenting our garden heritage, or at least ‘our take’ on it, as a legacy for the next 25 years of the Society’s work. This is urgent work, because while we cannot ‘save’ all of the gardens we can document the people and places who created them, and speculate on the social and environmental circumstances in which they were created. This is core business for the Society. See our mission statement. While we do not necessarily want to be involved in the production work, indeed they must or should be driven by local perceptions, I am sure those involved in this project would be happy to share their experiences to assist other branches. In the case of the missing notebook by coiin Mills I n my article on John Bidwilt’s recently discovered botanical notebook (The Case of the Missing Notebook - Australian Garden History, Vol.18 No. a, July/August 2006) I proposed the name x Amarygia parked ‘AmeWae’ for a plant long grown in Australia but before the discovery of Bidwill’s notebook of unknown origin. In the published article part of the following paragraph was omitted. The paragraph in its entirety provides the rationale for the proposed name. Most late 19th and early 20th century commentators considered Bidwill’s crosses to be fore-runners of the multiflora Amaryllis hybrids, characterised by their vigour and hardiness, a large number of flowers per scape on a radial umbel, sometimes twenty or more compared with ten or less in A. belladonna, often more vivid colours than A. belladonna, although ranging from white to almost crimson, a characteristic yellow to almost orange throat, and often, broader segments with more rounded apices. Such hybrids have been given a number of names since they first appeared around 1866, but of most relevance are: Amaryllis parked W. Watson (The Gardeners’ Chronicle, p.92,1909), the name proposed for the Kew Belladonna; x Amarygia Ciferri& Giacom. (Nomencl. FI. Ital., Pt.i. 121, 1950), the name proposed for all Amaryllis L. x Brunsvigia Heist, hybrids; x Amarygia parked (W. Watson) H.E.Moore (Baileya 19 (4) 164,1975), the specific name proposed for all such crosses with Brunsvigia josephinae (Redoute) Ker- Gawl. as a parent. Under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Tokyo Code) such crosses are correctly called x Amarygia parked, at least until the origin of the multiflora Amaryllis hybrids is fully elucidated. From the detailed description provided in Bidwill’s notebook it seems probable that the plant he named ‘Ameliae’ is identical to the plant still occasionally seen today, illustrated in the article, for which I have proposed the name x Amarygia parked ‘Ameliae’ because of its origin as a first generation cross between Amaryllis belladonna L. and Brunsvigia josephinae (Redoute) Ker-Gawl. Community Activities: Camden Park open garden fundraiser, March 3 & 4,10am - 4pm. Includes massed display ofx Amarygia parked. Access via Elizabeth Macarthur Avenue, Camden. 4 Australian Garden History February/March/April 2007 Vol. 18 No. 4 AGHS members enjoy lunch on a log at Hans Heysen's family garden, The Cedars, near Hahndorf on the final day of the 2006 Adelaide conference. Photo: Anne Kaleski Designs on history Highlights and lessons learned at the AGHS 2006 annual national conference - Botanic Riches: keeping garden history in design - by Christina Vos. O ver three days in October 2006 (2oth-22nd), AGHS members and conference participants heard from n speakers and visited 13 gardens as part of the Australian Garden History Society’s 27th Annual National Conference in Adelaide, at the National Wine Centre. As the conference title suggests, the focus of last year’s AGHS Annual Conference was Adelaide’s botanic riches, from which, either directly or as a point of departure, the conference’s sub-theme ‘keeping garden history in design’ was discussed. As a heritage practitioner working on, among other things, the assessment and conservation management of historic cultural landscapes, parks and gardens etc, it was this sub-theme of the conference that initially sparked my curiosity. It was a fascinating and inspiring three days; with a diverse range of papers presented and well-matched garden visits. Of the papers presented over the first two day, those by Richard Heathcote on Carrick Hill, Stephen Forbes on the influence of botany from a local to world context, Stuart Read on lessons to be learned from Mediterranean gardens and their management, and Professor Lance McCarthy on a new garden, the Flinders Investigator Garden, were of most interest and relevance to me. Colleen Morris writes in her introduction to the conference, ‘maintaining the most significant aspects of a historic garden or landscape and integrating new design in a meaningful and respectful way is among one of the greatest challenges for landscape designers today’. As a heritage practitioner, the challenge is identifying the most significant aspects of a historic garden or landscape to determine the limits of acceptable change, ensuring new design or new elements can be integrated while maintaining the most important aspects of the place. In this regard, the presentations by Richard Heathcote, Director of Carrick Hill, and Stephen Forbes, Director ofthe Adelaide Botanic Gardens, on the stories, conservation and management of their respective pieces of Adelaide’s botanic riches, were fascinating and relevant. Richard Heathcote spoke about the legacy of Ursula Hayward at Carrick Hill, a large and ambitiously landscaped garden, created from 1937. Structural elements remained, but otherwise the garden was lost. Richard’s research revealed Ursula to be an amateur gardener, influenced by Vol. 18 No. 4 February/March/April 2007 Australian Garden History 5 popular house and garden journals (a Country Life reader), and the English Arts and Crafts environment in which she grew up, with a joy of flowers evidenced by her collections of books and art. With this understanding, various parts of the garden such as the picking garden -filled with light- coloured herbaceous perennials and annuals dramatically set against dark foliage of a clipped yew hedge-were interpretively reconstructed, referencing the spirit of its maker, her influences and contemporary fashions. One thread ofStephen Forbes’ paper discussed botany in an economic and political context during the Age of Empire, when the great nations of Europe built their wealth on the natural resources, including plants, of the colonies. A Museum of Economic Botany was constructed in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens (1881) and used for displays of industry, including plants, ‘that would benefit the new colony’, such as grain, fodder and other crops for South Australia. To then visit the picking garden at Carrick Hill and the Temple of Flora exhibition in the recently restored Museum of Economic Botany, with a greater understanding of the historic, aesthetic, social, economic and political contexts in which they were created, and observe the outcomes of the respective approaches to their management and interpretation was invaluable. In the context of Australia’s drought and increasingly arid environment, ‘Our Mediterranean Heritage...’ by Stuart Read posed pertinent questions about what can be learned from Spanish garden traditions and their current approaches to managing change in a similar environment, with pressures from growing visitor numbers and with increasing limitations on resources such as water and budgets. One such valuable lesson was plant selection and the suggestion to consider using plants better adapted to aridity and variable environments, such as those with Mediterranean origins. While not necessarily suitable for all historic gardens or all sites, plants of Mediterranean origin should be considered when selecting appropriate species for historic parks and gardens for a more sustainable conservation approach. A core ‘Spanish lesson’ then is the importance of ‘place-based’ design to best ensure sustainability. Professor Lance McCarthy’s paper was also fascinating, illustrating how a new garden, through design and plant selection, can itself be an interpretive device and symbolise the past. The species selection for McCarthy’s Flinders Investigator Garden was inspired by and representative of the work of botanist Robert Brown and botanical illustrator Ferdinand Bauer, during Flinders’ voyage which produced detailed maps of the South Australian coastline. The final day of the conference was devoted entirely to garden visits, taking us via the Waite Arboretum, in Urrbrae, and then into the Adelaide Hills. While all interesting places, for me The Cedars and the Waite Arboretum were quite exceptional. The Cedars was the house, studio and garden of landscape painter Sir Hans Heysen (from 1912 to 1968). Established in the 1870s, and enhanced by the Heysen family from around 1912, the garden is set within a rugged pastoral landscape characterised by the eucalypts so familiar from Heysen’s iconic Australian landscapes. The Cedars was also the home, studio and garden of Nora Heysen - celebrated artist and daughter of Sir Hans. A wander through the rambling cottage garden, or viewing it through Nora’s studio windows, was enhanced by the memory of Nora’s still lifes (favourites of mine), and the sounds of laughterand squeals of delight from a more recent member of the Heysen family at the discovery of a cicada. Against the peace of its picturesque surrounds, The Cedars is a lively and dynamic place brought to life by the fact that it remains in the Heysen family, various generations of whom were present during our visit - making this place, for me, a delightful house museum. The comprehensiveness of the collection at the Waite Arboretum (2200 species including 360 species of eucalypts), grown under natural rainfall and all labelled, was spectacular and impressive. The 80 minutes allowed for the visit could not do the extensive collection justice. As a student of horticulture at Burnley, (and indeed for anyone with an interest in Australian and exotic trees), the Waite Arboretum is an incredible resource. It has been added to my list of fascinating places to revisit. At Stirling in the Adelaide Hills, we witnessed some grand gardens with impressive plant collections in several properties with origins as ‘hill station’ retreats, including a significant mature pinetum at Forest Lodge from the 1880s with an unusual Japanese umbrella pine (Sciadopitys verticillata). The pinetum was a feature of many large nineteenth century Australian gardens, stemming from the Gardenesque style advocated by JC Loudon . 6 Australian Garoen History February/March/April 2007 Vol. 18 No. 4 ABOVE: The mature pinetum at Forest Lodge fascinated tree lovers. LEFT: Urrbrae House, the Waite Arboretum: a favourite destination for many of those attending the conference's final day. Photos: Benoit Trudeau Vol. 18 No. 4 February/March/April 2007 Australian Garden History 7 The picking garden at Carrick Hill. Photo: Benoit Trudeau Other highlights of the conference included Trevor Nottle's introductory reference frame for garden history in Adelaide and SA branch member Merilyn Kuchel's fascinating look at Robert Swinbourne's research on lost South Australian gardens and their lessons. Merilyn's work, along with that of so many others in the SA branch, was instrumental in making the conference such a great success. Keynote speaker Marylyn Abbott discussed her experiences in reconciling historic places with newer garden designs, both in NSW and the United Kingdom. Marylyn argued that while design often arises from the need to unify existing elements in the garden, plants, colour and a wider palette of influences can also play a significant role in creating a cohesive picture. There were many opportunities between sessions, over coffee breaks and picnic lunches, on bus trips and ambling through public and private gardens, to talk informally with other people interested in orworking with garden heritage; garden makers and designers, landscape architects, historians, researchers, heritage practitioners; about their research interests, their gardens, current projects, and the odd conservation conundrum - such as pressures to add mortar to crazy paving for health and safety reasons. Pausing to reflect on the collective expertise, knowledge and experience in Australia’s garden history and heritage present at the conference, it would be wonderful if the 2007 AGHS annual conference seized the opportunity to bring that collective knowledge together in a constructive and more formal setting. A facilitated discussion may be possible for example, where those interested could consider and learn from a representative sample of recent successes, challenges and failures in the conservation of Australia’s historic gardens and cultural landscapes. Overall, it was a wonderful conference. I returned to Melbourne having learnt a great deal, having met fascinating people, inspired, and confident that you can keep garden history in design. Christina Vos is a heritage consultant who is currently undertaking post-graduate studies in horticulture at The University of Melbourne's Burnley Campus. 8 Australian Garden History February/March/April 2007 Vol. 18 No. 4 Meet your National Management Committee NMC chair Colleen Morris in conversation with Journal editor Genevieve Jacobs Your early involvement with garden history had an American influence. Has the Australian conservation movement come of age, or do we still have important lessons to learn from international experience? My personal experience in heritage conservation is entirely in Australia. As far as conservation philosophy is concerned, the Australia Icomos Burra Charter is internationally well regarded as a tool for guiding decision making. The theoretical basis for conservation is well understood by some members of our community but we do not always have the hearts and minds of decision makers and we often, as a community, do not have the resources to ensure that conservation policies and recommendations can be fulfilled. One of the most difficult concepts for many to appreciate is that good management and maintenance (ie: conservation) can be the best contribution that a board, government department or local council can make for posterity. Who were your earliest influences in the garden history and conservation field? How have those influences held throughout your career? It is not just who but what influenced me and it is possibly plants in their maturity that drew me to old gardens and particularly slightly overgrown, romantic gardens in my childhood. School holiday picnics at Vaucluse House remain prominent in my mind. Growing up with my father who was involved with the establishment of Wirrimbirra Sanctuary near Bargo in NSW, I became aware of Australian plants through contact with Thistle Stead(Harris). The appreciation of plants and their conservation has remained a life long interest and is the core business of botanic gardens, one of this country’s greatest strength in the context of garden history. In terms of formal study Eleanor McPeck, my instructor at Radcliffe, and fellow students there influenced my approach to garden history. The libraries of Harvard University and archives of the Asa Gray Herbarium opened my eyes to the bibliographic riches available to the patient student In Australia Allan Correy who had studied in both the UK and USA was my thesis supervisor. I gained much from his personal commitment to natural garden design and his practical, occasionally irreverent, attitude to heritage conservation. Guest lecturer James Broadbent imparted his own particular understanding of early colonial gardens and society and conservation philosophy, which had an enduring impact on me. Contact with Michael Lehany gently taught me ways of seeing and reading gardens. I met Richard Aitken while researching and writing my thesis on Loudon following Richard’s publication of a letter in Australian Garden History (Vol 4(1)1992). Discussions with Richard Clough, who I came to know through the Australian Garden History Society, have ensured a continuing education in garden history. In practical terms we desperately lack expertise in gardeners that are trained in conservation and we could learn much from overseas in that regard. Garden history, really good plant identification and what little conservation subjects there were available seem to be some of those that are being reduced in tertiary education. Your post-graduate degree was a Masters of Heritage Conservation from Sydney University. Subsequently, your work has often included colonial era gardens. What significance do these relics of early European gardening ideas hold today? For me many colonial gardens and cultural landscapes, particularly pastoral landscapes with their intersection of Vol. 18 No. 4 February/March/April 2007 Australian Garden History 9 natural with cultural are the European equivalent of the songlines of the Aboriginal people. They represent layers of interactions with the land, which academics love to refer to as palimpsests. They show us where we came from, who we were and, with interpretation, engender stories of plant introductions, gardening practice, the fluctuations in familial circumstances, local history and social interactions. I also believe the early colonial adaptation of British and European design concepts to the Australian condition, particularly the eclectic range of plants used, resulted in gardens more suited to our climate than many that followed later in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. At the other end of the time scale, you also collaborated on a conservation management plan for Rose Seidler House. Is this a cultural artefact of equal value to, say, Elizabeth Farm at Parramatta? How do we accurately assign those values? The weighting of value of one place against another is always fraught with difficulty but one of the objectives of heritage conservation is to ensure that places that are representative of each major phase of development are conserved. Rose Seidler House is part of Harry Seidler’s conceptual planning of a family compound of three modernist houses, inspired by north-east American prototypes. The relationship of architecture with landscape, the house in a cleared space with few deliberately retained eucalypts, demonstrates one of the National Management Committee chair Colleen Morris indulges a long held passion for trees. principal tenets of modernism - the contrast between man¬ made object and nature (order/disorder) - the built form set against space and time. However the garden that evolved around one of Australia’s iconic prototypical modernist houses became an expression of the recent immigrant Rose Seidler’s personal creativity. It was both typically suburban in the choice of planting and idiosyncratic in the integration of terraced citrus orchard with ornamental gardens. Mrs Seidler particularly delighted in growing plants that she could not possibly have grown in Vienna or in England- frangipani, oranges, port wine magnolia and Queensland Firewheel Tree. The story of the garden adds a layer of richness to the interpretation ofthe house. However the garden that evolved around one of Australia’s iconic prototypical modernist houses became an expression ofthe recent immigrant Rose Seidler’s personal creativity. It was both typically suburban in the choice of planting and idiosyncratic in the integration of terraced citrus orchard with ornamental gardens. Mrs Seidler particularly delighted in growing plants that she could not possibly have grown in Vienna or in England- frangipani, oranges, port wine magnolia and Queensland Firewheel Tree. The story ofthe garden adds a layer of richness to the interpretation ofthe house. 10 Australian Garden History February/March/April 2007 Vol. 18 No. 4 How can it be compared with John and Elizabeth Macarthur’s first estate at Elizabeth Farm? Elizabeth Farm, commenced in 1793 contains part of the earliest surviving construction in Australia. Its garden contains some of the earliest European plantings in Australia. But as part of the story of the response of recent immigrants to NSW, there are distinct parallels. Elizabeth Macarthur’s involvement in the garden and interest in species that would grow in our climate; John Macarthur’s bungalow with its broad veranda was a progressive response to both contemporary architecture and the local climate. Each of these places represents a stage in the development of Australia. Each was prominent at the time of their initial development. As so few examples of garden remnants survive, it is one of the reasons we value Elizabeth Farm. So few examples of mid-twentieth century architecture and gardens have been recognized and protected we need to ensure that there are other examples in addition to Rose Seidler House. Peter Timms recently argued in Australia's Quarter Acre that the heart of our gardening tradition lies in backyards replete with chooks and choko vines - the common denominator in millions of Australian childhoods. Does the AGHS pay enough attention to these humble but deeply significant places? PeterTimms’ book is wonderful in its celebration of the humble, just as his after dinnertalk at our Hobart Conference in 2002 drew attention to the working gardeners of the historic gardens we value today. One of the strengths of the Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens is its inclusion of entries of these more humble spaces in addition to entries on gardeners. There is also a definite tendency among our members to appreciate the more quirky aspects of garden history. Gardening is, after all, meant to be fun! high incidence of white ants. Should we replace a rotted wooden Doric column on a colonial building with a modern fibro cement column with a finish that emulates the old? A travesty one might say-why should the fine old tree of an historic garden be treated with any less respect than a house? y/iC (yyjrccL(CtLo-/L /-i /I /O7 'CX/jcVh household l/tcCrrf. / (y/uXTC 'COT7~C' m