This is a reprint of an article first presented on May 1, 2018. It’s gardening season again!

Here in Canada, Faded Page’s home, May marks the start of the gardening season for a good number of people. It thus seems timely to consider Old Herbaceous by Reginald Arkell (1882-1959). The novel presents a comic portrait of Bert Pinnegar, head gardener at a British country house. A humorous and gentle book, with bits of gardening wisdom throughout, this book will likely appeal to those who love the views of gardens in the television series Downton Abbey or descriptions of country manor gardens and their gardeners in Agatha Christie’s novels.

Reginald Arkell, born at Gloucestershire, England, was a scriptwriter, novelist and poet. He wrote a number of musical plays for London theatre. Here at Faded Page, we also have Green Fingers: a Present for a Good Gardener. This is a collection of poems, again with a gardening theme.

If bad weather prevents you from indulging your love of gardening or taking a walk through your favourite gardens, then do consider browsing through one of Arkell’s books or volunteering to help us bring more public domain titles like these to Canada. Information about volunteering is available on our companion site Distributed Proofreaders Canada.