Sunday 15 February 2015

Finding Major Johnston

In a garden such as Hidcote you would think getting a sense of its creator not a hard task. In fact I've teased at the nature of the man ever since I visited his English garden almost a year ago. It has become quite an obsession, a quest to discover what appears to be unknowable, possibly intended that way by the man himself.


Penstemon 'Hidcote Pink'
" Johnston emerges as a stiff, formal, buttoned up, upper class English country 
gentleman of his own invention"  R. Strong

Hypericum 'Hidcote'
"I knew Johnnie Johnston for 30 years but I never knew him " Vicomte de Noailles

Campanula latiloba 'Hidcote Amethyst'
'I fear he is a waster' Gertrude Winthrop (mother)

Sweet William 'Hidcote Red' Dianthus
Career soldier-military service: Anglo/Boer War seeing action several times in the bloodiest battles known to man at that time; First World War, injured twice, once so badly his body was set aside for burial.

Symphytum 'Hidecote Pink'
'cosy, companionable creature' 'we share three passions...gardening, travelling and reading out loud'
'he is a good little man-that's why I like him' Norah Lindsay

'he was a decent sort of man....he would pat you on the shoulder and say it was good' (talking about work habits) Ted Pearce employed 53 years by L.J.

Verbena 'Lawrence Johnston'
Gifted Gardener and Horticulturist. Deeply loved
by all his friends. Inscription on grave

Close friends included Edith Wharton, they stayed at each others homes regularly. "Bill" Barrington, 10th Viscount Barrington, who was living companionably in a 'ménage-à-cinq' with a famed harpsichordist, her husband and two other lovers. The aforementioned Norah Lindsay, outgoing and ebullient, they travelled together frequently, each acknowledged their unbreakable bond. If she had not died before him, L.J. planned to leave Hidcote to her.
Not the social group one might expect for someone described as stiff and formal.

Jasminum polyanthum
(
collected on Johnston's plant hunting trip to China 1930)
The plant above resides in the plant house, called the summer house by L.J. It was here I felt most in tune with the master of Hidcote. The overcast day turned for the worse and the sky darkened. I looked out over the lily pond, just a short walk from the old stables and garden sheds. I sensed L.J. walking at dusk across the courtyard from the house, checking on the hundreds of plants potted up in the stables, and then on to the summer house where he kept the tender plants from his travels. Here, in the stillness, I imagined him contemplating the next day's work, fitting it into some pattern known only to himself.

Recommend reading Hidcote-The Making of a Garden by Ethne Clarke 
Norah Lindsay: The Life and Art of a Garden Designer by Allyson Hayward

21 comments:

  1. I love those selections of plants Susan! And thank you for the book links as I would like to check them out!!! Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!! Nicole xo

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    1. The plants are just a few of many developed at Hidcote.

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  2. People are viewed differently by others depending on what part of life they share with that individual.

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    1. Yup, you are right. We all play different roles in different parts of our lives. I think he was a bit passive aggressive with his mother but I still think her comment harsh.

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  3. You are a real follower of Mr. Johnston. The quotes were interesting..... I have the book of Ethne Clarke and am curious to the book The Life and Art of a Garden Designer.
    Have a nice week, here it was so spring like, but we had frost last night.

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    1. We have had three sunny days in a row but clear skies often mean frosts. Johnston's story is quite sad and I suspect there is more to learn.

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  4. I much enjoyed your quotes and images revealing so many of Hidcote's special cultivars and plants discovered on LJ's travels.
    Your first quote I am particularly interested in as I shall be visiting Roy Strong's own garden this year - a garden said to be heavily influenced by Hidcote. Strong's quote could equally apply to him too!

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    1. I've been out of England so long I had forgotten about Sir Roy. Has he come to a decision regarding the future of his garden?

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    2. The current situation is that his garden, The Laskett, was rejected by the NT when offered to them. He has threatened to have the garden destroyed on his death. May be his response is a clever PR way of drawing attention to plight of The Laskett. Perhaps his pride has been hurt at being rejected. I am saw that his reaction will have made sure that visitor numbers will be well up this year. I should imagine that we have not heard the last instalment of the story that is The Laskett yet.

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  5. Wow these are beautiful I love reading about the history of the plant it makes it more "real" some how, I imagine your weather is beautiful out there right now as compared to our cold in the east. Beautiful flowers. Thank you. B

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    1. Plant history is fascinating. I hardly dare admit it has been really nice this week.

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  6. So many plants called after Mr. Johnston or his garden. First book I have and the other book, The Life and Art of a garden Designer I put on my wishlist.

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  7. I loved this idea of looking at and for the gardener....

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    1. One of the gardens I visited I poked around in the potting sheds, somewhat off the prescribed route, the work areas seem to retain something of the people who toiled there.

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  8. Sounds like a completely fascinating man!

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    1. Not the type to make my heart race but hidden depths I think.

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  9. He sounds like a complex guy. But his gardens are beautiful. Perhaps he was a private type who wanted to be known as mysterious.

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    1. A father who ran off, rootless travelling with his domineering mother, fighting in two wars, these things all leave scars. Perhaps when you've been through all that there is not much left to say.

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  10. An enigmatic character by the sound of it. He must have been creative and possessed of a streak of romance to have created such a beautiful garden.

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  11. And not forgetting the lavender: Hidcote blue. I didn't realise that there were other plants
    I like Hidcote. It is not my favourite garden but I do like it, having visited a few times.
    Having read your post made me want to read more and I see that Mr. Johnston had a house in the south of France as well. Now that's the life!
    Bye for now,
    Kirk

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  12. I do think that people reveal themselves most when they are creative and gardening is certainly a creative as well as physical activity.

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