'The Garden', Charles Mahoney, 1950

Tea in the garden for an unknown Edwardian family.

'Yellow Ox-eye daisies', Charles Mahoney (1903-1968), Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Mahoney painted this post-war study of telekia speciosa at his garden in Wrotham, Kent, where he had constructed his studio from munition packing cases.

September from The Months, Eliot Hodgkin, 1950. A soft orange dahlia takes centrepiece, alongside the first sweetcorn cob and first of the autumn apples. There are delicate trails of Virginia creeper and blackberries, and a sprinkling of mushrooms and nuts.

A very interesting new article on Joseph and Florence Pemberton and their rose introductions (Buff Beauty probably being the most famous) on The Garden History blog. thegardenhistory.blog/2025/08/30/j...

All I can discover about this painting of terraced back gardens is that the artist is an E N Thurston and that it is 'vintage'. Does anyone know more?

Postcard of an impressively dressed Edwardian couple on their allotment, 1905. Annotated 78 Cornwall Road, Kettering - probably their home address.

With allotments under new threat, enjoy this short BBC film from 1971. Allotments aren't just about produce, they're also about community ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wci...

'Miss Edith Inspects the Sweetpea', by London artist Charles Mahoney, c.1934. The artwork depicts Mahoney's landlady overseeing work in her garden, and the painting was a significant contribution to the artist's 1976 posthumous exhibition.

August from Eliot Hodgkin's 'The Months', 1950. The colours are warm and rich - vibrant zinnias, cuckoo pint berries, the rust of a sorrel flower, the first pear, apricot and mushrooms of the year, and, by contrast, a cluster of snowberries and a pale ear of wheat.

Hop picking in Yalding, Kent, 1944. Londoners from the East End joined locals for several weeks each summer, staying in tin huts with straw mattresses and cooking on camp-fires. Despite the hard work, it is remembered with fondness by many London children.

Nectarines were a surprisingly popular fruit among Victorian gardeners, who generally had to grow them under glass. 'Victoria' was most probably introduced by Rivers Nursery of Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire in the 1840s to mark the new Queen's accession.

Land girls harvesting tomatoes, Lea Valley, Hertfordshire, 1944. Although enjoyed in salads, the tomato was still approached with caution in the UK. As a young man during WWII my father was warned by his doctor that they could cause appendicitis.

Land girls harvesting tomatoes, Lea Valley, Hertfordshire, 1944. Although enjoyed in salads, the tomato was still approached with caution in the UK. As a young man during WWII my father was warned by his doctor that they could cause appendicitis.

July from Eliot Hodgkin's 'The Months', 1950. A superb globe artichoke takes centre stage, surrounded by heady white nicotiana flowers, a variegated carnation, cornflower, begonia and Chinese forget-me-not. There are luscious summer berries but also the sinister touch of deadly nightshade.

The Dunbar family in the garden at The Cedars, Spring; Evelyn Dunbar, 1938. Evelyn's father, William, is presenting eggs to her mother, Florence. Evelyn is playing badminton with her sister Jessie, and her siblings Marjorie, Alec and Ronald also appear.

I suspect (am not certain) that this lovely Edwardian photograph was by Etheldreda Laing (1872-1960), a gifted amateur photographer, renowned for her images of daily life at the family home, Bury Knowle House, in Oxford. She was particularly fond of photographing hollyhocks.

Aster Alpinus (alpine daisy), plate from William Curtis' Botanical Magazine, 1 August 1792.

The Land Girl magazine was launched on 1 April 1940 at the price of 4d to help the girls feel less isolated. It became so popular (selling 21,000 copies a week) that the Ministry of Agriculture decided to fund its production. The last edition was published in March 1947.

Dachshund assistant gardeners, 1910 postcard. No such help from our mini-wirehair - his specialism is sunbathing 😂

The Elton Cherry, William Hooker, Pomona Londiniensis, 1817. Raised by Thomas Andrew Knight at Elton Hall, Herefordshire in 1806 from Bigarreau and White Heart. It is still obtainable and still delicious!

The Hawthorn Horse, Oakham, Rutland, 1932. Situated at the corner of Cemetery Road and Station Road, this topiary horse was a local attraction. It was in the paddock of Mr J Littler, a veterinary surgeon. The Old Barn, now Oakham School shop, can be seen to the right.

Hampstead Heath allotments, 1941. Photo ©Hulton-Deutsch Collection.

Three popular Victorian apples and their blossom: Braddick's Nonpareil, King of Pippins and Belle de Pontoise.

Eleanour Sinclair Rohde (1881-1950) was a Surrey garden designer and horticultural writer - the first woman to design a show garden at Chelsea. In 1940 she published The Wartime Vegetable Garden, a beginner's guide to growing produce, complete with recipes.

'May' from 'The Months', Eliot Hodgkin, 1951. There's double hawthorn (may blossom), fragrant lily of the valley, magnolia stellata, a tiny red azalea, a head of rhubarb flower, broad beans and the first summer fruits and (I think) a thrush's egg.

Beatrix Potter, background study for The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, c.1903.

A gardener in the grounds of Westminster Cathedral watering vegetables in a plot formed from a bomb crater left after a German air raid on London, July 1942.

'Easter Monday' by Winifred Nicolson, 1950, Tullie House Gallery, Carlisle. I love Winifred Nicolson's work and have a print of this favourite by the kitchen armchair where I cosy up to read.

Happy Easter, from our home to yours!

Blossom is so often overlooked when we choose a new apple tree, but as this wonderful montage from @thepackingshedtamar on IG shows, some varieties have especially beautiful flowers. Scent also varies greatly from variety to variety.

It will soon be lilac time and here is one of the loveliest whites, Madame Lemoine, bred by the incomparable Victor Lemoine of Nancy in 1890. It received an RHS AGM in 1937 and remains popular on both sides of the Channel. Photographer unknown.

'Magnolia, Patterson Road', set in Crystal Palace, London, by British artist Roger Cromwell

Flower display in the doorway of a public house, York Road, Battersea, SW London. circa 1900

April from 'The Months', Eliot Hodgkin, 1951. Two beautiful camellias take centre stage, but there are also daisies, auriculas, chaenomeles, 'sticky buds', the first veg of the year and a dainty tulip clusiana.

'A Jam Jar of Primroses', Pamela Kay (b. 1939).

A delightful Charles Tunnicliffe orchard scene for the Ladybird books. Although he spent most of his working life on Anglesey, Tunnicliffe grew up on a small tenant farm near Macclesfield.

Hyacinth 'Anna Carolina', introduced in Holland c. 1850 and one of the most popular varieties of the day among British gardeners, yellow hyancinths being especially prized. Now believed lost. 1/2

Narcissi ready for packing and sending up to London, Scilly Isles, 1890s

'Vegetable Garden at Strawberry Cottage', Evelyn Dunbar, 1938. Strawberry Cottage in Hurst Green, East Sussex, belonged to Dunbar's aunt.

Allotments', David Inshaw, 1987

In honour of St David's Day, the Tenby Daffodil (narcissus obvallaris), Britain's only native daffodil. So many wild bulbs were dug up in Wales during the late 19th century to satisfy insatiable demand elsewhere in the UK that it nearly became extinct.

Inside the Victorian Glasshouse. A #monochrome #photograph of the interior of a Victorian greenhouse taken on a sunny day at #Errdig Hall, North Wales. #AlphabetChallenge #WeekIforInside #gardens #greenhouses #PhotoOfTheDay

"Mr Len Carr with his giant leeks which he keeps fresh in the bath", Daily Mirror, 1980

Via Royal #Horticultural Society Libraries: "This beautiful book was hand-painted by Sophia MacKenzie in the late 18th-century. She's thought to have taken the book to Kew and worked from life!" Find out more about this remarkable object and creator at free talk on 4 March: bit.ly/41fIdtj #flowers

A snowdrop puzzle. I came across these photos on Pinterest years ago, both purporting to be Galanthus reginae-olgae 'Pink Panther'. From what I can discover 'Pink Panther' has only the faintest wash of blush. Does anyone know of a snowdrop with distinctly pink tepals?

One of my very favourite old dwarf narcissi, so delicate and great for naturalising. 'W P Milner' was raised in 1869 by William Backhouse of County Durham. It is still available from specialist suppliers. Photographer unknown.

I can't find who painted this lovely scene, but to me it epitomises the hope of brighter days so many of us are trying to cling onto at the moment.

1930s Covent Garden eagerly awaited consignments of fluffy, honey-scented mimosa from the Cote d'Azur, bringing sunshine and a racy air of the Scott Fitzgeralds to London drawing rooms. 1/3

'The Last Rose', John Woodward Lines, (British, b. 1938)