Description
Book SynopsisThis story has its roots in the life of George Owen Millum, who at the turn of the 19th century was the head gardener at Maytham Hall in Kent, the home of Frances Hodgson Burnett, long celebrated for her timeless classic The Secret Garden. The garden in the story was based upon that at Maytham Hall, and George Millum was the model for Ben Weatherstaff, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s fictional gardener. George’s son, George Charles Millum, who like his father was born in the gardener’s cottage at Maytham, also grew up to be a country house gardener – hence the title of this book, written and compiled by his own son with detailed extracts from his diaries.
Table of ContentsIntroduction: a life in gardening 1 The American writer and the English garden 3 George Charles Millum, Son of The Secret Gardener 15 Promotion and marriage 27 The diary for 1935 30 The war years and beyond 70 A new position 76 The diary for 1949 80 Epilogue 117 About the Author 118 Acknowledgement 119
