Thursday, May 27, 2010

A rose in Bloomsbury







Oh, to be in England in the summertime. Fans of the Chelsea Flower show and all things horticultural may want to see some 'living history'. From the library, take a stroll to the nearest patch of grass - Gordon Square where you can watch the emergence of the 'Gertrude Jekyll' rose. She was a famous garden designer whose brother, Walter, was, possibly, the eponymous inspiration behind a well-known work by his friend - Robert Louis Stevenson (available in the Library: The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde).

Gertrude famously worked on many architectural projects with Sir Edwin Lutyens, who designed BMA House in Tavistock Square which is adjacent to Gordon Square. You can read more about this building, once the home of Charles Dickens, in BMA House : a guide and history also available in the Library. We also have a lovely collection of books on garden history, as a search on the catalogue will reveal.