Barnsley House - Scent suckers
10-24-19
Once upon a time, I had an idyllic period in my life, one of several. I was living with, and soon to marry, the coolest girl I had ever met, and she was beautiful to boot. Through her parents, I fell in love with gardening. From there, I realized horticulture was an actual thing, a thing I could use to pursue a career which involved design, art, and my forte - esoteric information.
I was on the cusp of 30 and desperate for some toehold on a path where I could make a living while satisfying my personal dispositions. We were in Knoxville, 1993-6, she was in law school, wanting to do public interest stuff, mediation. I had a job as the fundraiser (now development or advancement officer) at an established nonprofit, doing community organizing in the most rural areas of East Tennessee.
But, as altruistic as my job was, it didn't hit enough sweet spots of what made me tick. Doing good in the world was #1, always has been, but my creativity was limited.
Then it occurred to me - The University of TN has a degree in Horticulture. I could knock out the B.S. degree while my betrothed was in law school. With that, I could pursue a landscape architecture degree, should the B.S. prove insufficient for my goals. I was all in.
Among my set goals going into the program was, #1, utilize my summers in the program to their ultimate value, specifically, work in a garden of international importance. As it turned out, this would be the foundation of our first anniversary of marriage, and official honeymoon. And, I hit the absolute jackpot.
My criteria was very specific - a garden with international, historic importance, primarily in England. I was accepted to internships at several English gardens, Filloli outside San Francisco, Monticello Center for Historic Plants... However, none of the English gardens could offer lodging or a stipend. Both domestic options did.
But, a correspondence had begun between a very generous woman and myself, which would, over time, yield more than I could have ever imagined, and remain one of my most cherished relationships.
Among my British applications, most were National Trust properties, maybe four were private gardens. One was Mrs. Rosemary Verey, O.B.E., of Barnsley House, near Cirencester. Eventually, after several letters back and forth (this was pre-email), she offered me accommodations for my bride and myself, a stipend, and a season's work. Her's was a private 4 acre garden, open to the public most days during specified hours, and the focus of many books, documentaries, etc. Her clientele included Prince Charles (whose Highgrove was nearby), Elton John, and the Queen of Norway.
I was in absolute hog heaven. So where did the Scent Suckers come from?
Well, there was a time when "RV" was totally overwhelmed. The demands on her time, for a 78 year old woman, were taking a visible toll. She delegated me some rather ominous tasks, such as playing tour guide to a group of Japanese fragrance scientists looking for new scents. Yep. That's pretty esoteric.
The frangrantologists arrived while Mrs Verey was filming a documentary with her arch rival in the garden design world, Penelope Hobhouse (never was there a more perfect name for an English garden design diva), for HGTV. My task for the documentary was get the film crew whatever shots they needed to back up the audio.
What didn't factor in with the decision for me to be first man to the film crew was that they were from Knoxville, as was I, and ijincks ensued - tiny town, they were staying at the pub two doors down from my cottage, what more is there to say?
So, the Japanese guys show up. Six scientists in white lab coats and interpreter, all of whom were very glad to be there. Mrs Verey instructs me to show them to the most fragrant things that were blooming that day. She suggested a few plants, and I knew where they were thankfully.
After arriving at a very prolific honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens I was proud to display), they broke out their tools. This was absolutely bizarre to me. They had a ziplock bag with a fan and a filter at the bottom of it. After sealing a blossom and stem in the ziplock, the fan sucked all of the air out of the bag, through the filter. The filter collected the essence of the aroma, which could then be chemically replicated and made into a fragrance / perfume / cologne. Mind blown.
After hitting the recommended plants, I wondered what else would be relevant. After all, might as well make the most of it. Then, I spotted a neighbor, one of the garden's most frequent visitors, Lord Kantsee (yes this is a made up name). Lord Kantsee was blind, but he knew the garden by scent, and visited often. He was there at least twice a week.
Sitting on a bench in the sun, I asked him what our guests might sample. He rattled off a dozen or more plants, gesticulating with his cane to their general direction. With his help, I filled the rest of the day with suggestions for scent suckers.
Meanwhile, the HGTV guys were having a hayday. They were lodged at the pub a block down the street and living large.
Once upon a time, I had an idyllic period in my life, one of several. I was living with, and soon to marry, the coolest girl I had ever met, and she was beautiful to boot. Through her parents, I fell in love with gardening. From there, I realized horticulture was an actual thing, a thing I could use to pursue a career which involved design, art, and my forte - esoteric information.
I was on the cusp of 30 and desperate for some toehold on a path where I could make a living while satisfying my personal dispositions. We were in Knoxville, 1993-6, she was in law school, wanting to do public interest stuff, mediation. I had a job as the fundraiser (now development or advancement officer) at an established nonprofit, doing community organizing in the most rural areas of East Tennessee.
But, as altruistic as my job was, it didn't hit enough sweet spots of what made me tick. Doing good in the world was #1, always has been, but my creativity was limited.
Then it occurred to me - The University of TN has a degree in Horticulture. I could knock out the B.S. degree while my betrothed was in law school. With that, I could pursue a landscape architecture degree, should the B.S. prove insufficient for my goals. I was all in.
Among my set goals going into the program was, #1, utilize my summers in the program to their ultimate value, specifically, work in a garden of international importance. As it turned out, this would be the foundation of our first anniversary of marriage, and official honeymoon. And, I hit the absolute jackpot.
My criteria was very specific - a garden with international, historic importance, primarily in England. I was accepted to internships at several English gardens, Filloli outside San Francisco, Monticello Center for Historic Plants... However, none of the English gardens could offer lodging or a stipend. Both domestic options did.
But, a correspondence had begun between a very generous woman and myself, which would, over time, yield more than I could have ever imagined, and remain one of my most cherished relationships.
Among my British applications, most were National Trust properties, maybe four were private gardens. One was Mrs. Rosemary Verey, O.B.E., of Barnsley House, near Cirencester. Eventually, after several letters back and forth (this was pre-email), she offered me accommodations for my bride and myself, a stipend, and a season's work. Her's was a private 4 acre garden, open to the public most days during specified hours, and the focus of many books, documentaries, etc. Her clientele included Prince Charles (whose Highgrove was nearby), Elton John, and the Queen of Norway.
I was in absolute hog heaven. So where did the Scent Suckers come from?
Well, there was a time when "RV" was totally overwhelmed. The demands on her time, for a 78 year old woman, were taking a visible toll. She delegated me some rather ominous tasks, such as playing tour guide to a group of Japanese fragrance scientists looking for new scents. Yep. That's pretty esoteric.
The frangrantologists arrived while Mrs Verey was filming a documentary with her arch rival in the garden design world, Penelope Hobhouse (never was there a more perfect name for an English garden design diva), for HGTV. My task for the documentary was get the film crew whatever shots they needed to back up the audio.
What didn't factor in with the decision for me to be first man to the film crew was that they were from Knoxville, as was I, and ijincks ensued - tiny town, they were staying at the pub two doors down from my cottage, what more is there to say?
So, the Japanese guys show up. Six scientists in white lab coats and interpreter, all of whom were very glad to be there. Mrs Verey instructs me to show them to the most fragrant things that were blooming that day. She suggested a few plants, and I knew where they were thankfully.
After arriving at a very prolific honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens I was proud to display), they broke out their tools. This was absolutely bizarre to me. They had a ziplock bag with a fan and a filter at the bottom of it. After sealing a blossom and stem in the ziplock, the fan sucked all of the air out of the bag, through the filter. The filter collected the essence of the aroma, which could then be chemically replicated and made into a fragrance / perfume / cologne. Mind blown.
After hitting the recommended plants, I wondered what else would be relevant. After all, might as well make the most of it. Then, I spotted a neighbor, one of the garden's most frequent visitors, Lord Kantsee (yes this is a made up name). Lord Kantsee was blind, but he knew the garden by scent, and visited often. He was there at least twice a week.
Sitting on a bench in the sun, I asked him what our guests might sample. He rattled off a dozen or more plants, gesticulating with his cane to their general direction. With his help, I filled the rest of the day with suggestions for scent suckers.
Meanwhile, the HGTV guys were having a hayday. They were lodged at the pub a block down the street and living large.
Comments
Post a Comment