Bowlesiana

John Grimshaw j.grimshaw@virgin.net
Sun, 06 Mar 2011 23:49:40 PST
The author of 'Bowles' Florist' was an ancestor of E.A. Bowles - and clearly 
not nearly as fine an artist.

Rodger Whitlock wrote: "Consciousness of [E.A. Bowles] is now receding into 
the mists of the past, to the detriment of modern gardening (imho)."

I'm not sure that this is totally accurate:  his 'My Garden' books were 
fairly recently reissued by Timber Press (the third reprinting since the 
1970s) and are all available through print on demand, as I discovered when 
doing my homework when writing a little blog piece about 'My Garden in 
Spring' recently.

EAB's work is by no means forgotten by real plantsmen. For example, Janis 
Ruksans quotes Bowles on Crocus freely throughout his own new book, 
'Crocuses'.

There is an active E.A. Bowles of Myddelton House Society 
http://eabowlessociety.org.uk/ and best of all, the garden at Myddelton 
House is undergoing active restoration, stimulated by a lottery grant and 
the vigorous leadership of Head Gardener Andrew Turvey, a seriously 
impressive young horticulturist. See 
http://leevalleypark.org.uk/en/content/…

Certainly not least effective in stimulating remembrance of his name is 
Galanthus plicatus 'E.A. Bowles', which originated at Myddelton House, and 
is a magnificicent poculiform (all white) snowdrop. It hit national and 
international news in February when a bulb of it was sold on Ebay for £357 
(generally, but wrongly, said to have been sold by me). My blog tells the 
tale...

John Grimshaw

Visit John Grimshaw's Garden Diary
http://johngrimshawsgardendiary.blogspot.com/

Dr. John M. Grimshaw
Sycamore Cottage
Colesbourne
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire
GL53 9NP

Tel. 01242 870567



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