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Old Herbaceous: A Story
Old Herbaceous: A Story
Old Herbaceous: A Story
Ebook160 pages2 hours

Old Herbaceous: A Story

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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“Old Herbaceous,” they called him when they thought he wasn’t listening. But crusty Bert Pinnegar, head gardener at the Manor, didn’t care what liberties they took. His first love had always been his lady’s garden, throughout his eighty years on God’s green earth; and if he had made it a little greener, why, that was all that mattered.

This is the story of a gardener, from the day when he won a prize for wild flowers at the village show, to the day when he himself was judging flower shows all over the county; from the day when he refused to follow his schoolmates to a job as a farmhand and won the post of garden boy at the Big House, to the day when he could sit back among his cushions in his little cottage and criticize the younger generation’s attitude towards tulips.

Old Herbaceous is more than a story of gardeners and gardening. Times changed in England, and even a village institution like Old Herbaceous found himself—the symbol of a more gracious era—with no place to go; for even gardens can change hands.

Anyone who loved the England of Goodbye Mr. Chips and Mrs. Miniver will love Mr. Arkell’s England, too. But the central character is not peculiar to the English countryside; wherever there is a garden, there you will find Old Herbaceous.

“Old Herbaceous is delightful. A book to warm the heart of anyone who loves earth or gardens!"—Loui Bromfield

“Old Herbaceous is enchanting—fresh as an English spring, fragrant as sweet lavender!”—A. J. Cronin

“What a great pair of cronies Old Herbaceous and Mr. Chips would make! There are chuckles and heart-tugs in these pages. The perfect book to give your friends!”—John Kieran
LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 9, 2016
ISBN9781787200630
Old Herbaceous: A Story

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Rating: 4.000000937499999 out of 5 stars
4/5

32 ratings4 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a perfectly charming little book that was originally published in 1950 and now has been re-issued as part of the Modern Library Gardening Series. It follows the career of Bert Pinnegar beginning with his early life as an orphan in Victorian England where, with the help of a kindly school teacher,m he develops a love for wild flowers. This leads him to be encouraged to enter the children's competition in the local flower show where he catches the eye of the Lady of the Manor and is brought on to work in her garden. Gradually through the years he becomes famous for providing early strawberries from his greenhouse, and finally becoming notable flower show judge throughout the north of England. The book describes the England of Masterpiece Theater; one that no longer actually exists, but still lives in the imagination of millions of people. This is a book to savor with a pot of tea on a rainy day. I guarantee you'll feel better once you turn the last page.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Well this one is just a cozy read that hit me in just the right way. Spanning from the late 1800's through the end of WWII, this is the story of a manor house's head gardener, from his inauspicious beginnings as a foundling through to his last days. I'm left confused about the narrator: for much of the story it feels like you're listening to Old Herbaceous himself telling his story as he looks back; in fact I'm sure it is him. But there are moments of omniscient third person: the narrator lets the reader in on conversations and the internal dialogues of secondary characters that Old Herbaceous couldn't know about. It flows well if you don't focus too hard on it; it didn't throw me out of the story so much as just slow me down a little bit. This was the perfect book for a cold, rainy do-nothing kind of day, and I closed the book smiling.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I could read this once a year - and happily - touches my heart in all the best waysnot sure where I bought this - Borders bookmark inside - perhaps while I worked there?
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A gentle and appreciative novel about the life of a gardener and the lady who loved the garden and the man who made it. I loved it.

Book preview

Old Herbaceous - Reginald Arkell

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