Valerie Finnis

[greenfinger]

Do you know the book 'Garden People' by Ursula Buchan? With the subtitle 'Valerie Finnis & the Golden Age of Gardening'.
Ref.: Thames and Hudson, London, 2007.
She took some 50.000 pictures in total, most of them with a Rolleiflex camera.
"Despite the growth in professional garden photography and advances in both techniques and technology, Valery is still acknowledged by modern practitioners of the art as one of the finest plant photographers that there has ever been, and a strong influence on those who came after her. She was notable for a 'natural' style, particularly evident in her collections of flowers, gathered from her garden in every season of the year."





Valerie had a weakness for outrageous hats, both wearing them herself and photographing others in them.





The person on the right is Miss Beatrix Havergal, founder of the Watterperry School for Horticulture. We see her here attacking a visitor desperately begging to spare his poor life. Yes, Miss Havergal was rather eccentric.

[ideasguy]

Everyone seems to be very busy this week (forum very quiet) so good to read your posting André

I love that photo of Val with those loppers. Shes a jaunty girl, isnt she!

I suspect Miss Havergal is chastising that poor unfortunate man for daring to sit on that beautiful stone wall.
Are you enjoying the book, my learned friend?

[greenfinger]

It's a nostalgic document, George. Good old time you know. And I think in this particular case it is true: Ursula Buchan writes about the age of Margery Fish, Roald Dahl, Vita Sackville-West and a lot of other plants(wo)men.
Today Lut, one of my neighbours and meself visited a plant fair.
There we met the people of Peter Bealey and after pulling our noses out of the roses we bought a 'City of York': it has an addictive scent. I think it will make a good climber for our façade.