Gardening was essential to H.E.’s writing. He would plan a novel in his mind as he worked in the garden all summer, setting it down on paper during the autumn and winter. He wrote in longhand in his summerhouse, weather permitting, believing the fragrance of flowers stimulated his creative powers.
Gardening was also essential to his well being. Confined to his bed following a heart attack he wrote later: ‘My garden became for me something to cling to. You could say it gave me the kiss of life’.
He wrote two full length books on gardening, A Love of Flowers and A Fountain of Flowers, and for many years had a regular gardening column in a weekly magazine. In an article on pruning he describes the ruinous ‘settin’ back’ technique of his arch enemy, 'Mr Pimpkins', one of his most delightful comic creations.
