Old Herbaceous

Book excerpt: “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