EDNA FOR THE GARDEN
SUZANNE SPUNNER
EDNA FOR THE GARDEN based on the life, work and writings of- EDNA WALLING, Landscape Designer
published by PARADISE PRODUCTIONS,2005
EDNA FOR THE GARDEN based on the life, work and writings of- EDNA WALLING, Landscape Designer
A Traveling Play for a Garden in Five Movements
"Dealing with the Problems of the site in the best most practical manner will give the basis of the design. " - Edna Walling
©SUZANNE SPUNNER 1989 EDNA FOR THE GARDEN
SETTING Outdoors in a large garden with a mix of English trees, shrubs and flowers and a smattering of Australian Natives
Edna for the Garden
First Move
A Matter of Perspective Is she artistic? A Job Is a Job is a Job Second Move
Badger's Cottage at Mooroolbark An English village in an Australian cow paddock An Adventure in rural development Melba Pays a call For the mistress of "Lynton Lee" Of accounts and trees Third Move
"Mawarra"- an Italian garden at Olinda Fourth Move
I readily admit to a weakness for birches How to build a dry-stone wall, properly A Quibble over a pound
Fifth Move
The fire at "Sonning" The Joy of Familiar Tools Song:Your Gardening Needs Words & Music by Lorraine Milne. Out bush in search of ... At the Herbarium The Front Garden of the Nation Apotheosis
EDNA FOR THE GARDEN A play for three women and one man
CHARACTERS
Edna Walling Landscape designer/builder/ gardener/photographer Margaret Walling Edna's mother William Walling Edna's father Blanche Sharpe Edna's friend and bookeeper Lorna Feilden A Poet, Edna's friend and editor Gwynneth Crouch Edna's friend and gardening assistant Eric Hammond Edna's principal contractor Ellis Stones Stone Mason employed by Edna, later a Garden Designer Jean Galbraith Botanist, Naturalist and Author, later Edna's editor Dame Nellie Melba A client and friend of Edna's The principal of Burnley Horticultural College & various Burnley students Miss Flora Marshall & Mrs Hilda McMillan the owners of "Mawarra". Tom Sproul a real estate agent An Architect for whom Edna designed her first garden Various clients and employees A Contemporary Garden Expert
Allocation of Roles:
WOMAN 1 Edna Walling
WOMAN 2 Margaret Walling/Nellie Melba/ Lorna Feilden/Miss Flora Marshall
WOMAN 3 Blanche Sharpe/ Gwynneth Crouch/ Mrs Hilda McMillan/ Jean Galbraith
MAN William Walling/ Burnley Principal/ An Architect/Tom Sproul/Eric Hammond/ Ellis Stones/Garden Expert. EDNA FOR THE GARDEN ______
FIRST MOVEMENT
CLIENT 1 Miss Walling, Miss Walling why don't you like specimen trees? Everyone has one, at least
CLIENT 2 Miss Walling, what is wrong with bright flowers? They're so lively and, bright
CLIENT 3 Miss Walling, I do like neat edged pathways, it is easier for the boy who mows
CLIENT 4 But Miss Walling, I adore annuals in geometric beds, they make such a lovely show.
CLIENT 5 Miss Walling, how could anyone be appalled by dahlias?
CLIENT 6 Miss Walling, all my friends are mad about crazy paving
CLIENT 1 Can't I just have one Blue Spruce in the centre of the lawn? They are so unusual.
CLIENT 2 Miss Walling, we've always wanted a row of Cypress- they give such order to a Garden
CLIENTS MISS WALLING WHAT DO YOU LIKE?
EDNA I love all things most gardeners abhor, moss in lawns, lichen on trees, more greenery than colour, as if green isn't a colour...
CLIENT 2 Moss!!!
CLIENT 4 Lichen !!!
EDNA Bare branches in winter, root-ridden ground, wherein one never attempts to dig, with a natural covering of leaves, or grass or some amenable low-growing plant
CLIENT 3 Never attempt to dig ?
EDNA I like the whole thing to be as wild as possible, so that you have to fight your way through in places...
CLIENT 4 As wild as possible?
EDNA I like sheets and sheets of forget-me-nots, and anything else that will self sow and look beautiful
CLIENT 5 Sheets and sheets?
CLIENT 4 Self sown ?
EDNA I like soft grey green leaves, I like white flowers, both at daytime and at night.
CLIENT 3 White flowers -at night?
EDNA I like quite a lot of plants for their foliage alone, and never care if they don't flower
CLIENTS NOT FLOWER?
EDNA Sometimes I like quite large trees in quite small gardens. I like odd shaped trees, and find the "perfect specimen" rather dull...
CLIENT 2 Perfection, dull?
EDNA I like to throw myself into an inviting chair in the green shade of a big tree, with my books on a low table beside me. YOU might prefer to dig and plant. I like to do that too...sometimes.
CLIENT 1 She is expensive
CLIENT 2 And autocratic!
CLIENT 3 She thinks she knows everything- and she doesn't hesitate to tell you !
CLIENT 4 And she wears trousers- jodphurs- all the time!
CLIENT 5 She won't use the tradesman's entrance, like the little man we had before.
CLIENT 6 I wasn't going to have her tell me where to put my house- she's a gardener afterall!
CLIENT 1 She always complains of busyness in the garden- yet she overplants herself
CLIENT 2 You should see what she did to my sister's garden.
CLIENT 3 Oh, she had her, did she?
CLIENT 2 Of course, I've got her myself now.
CLIENT 4 Actually, I've had her already ...She did the property, and insisted on a Ha Ha .
CLIENTS HA HA ? HA HA !
CLIENT 5 I thought I'd get her for the new house in town
CLIENT 6 Good idea! There's no choice these days. It's Edna for the garden. What else can one do?
A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE ______
LITTLE GIRL I want to meet Miss Walling
HER FATHER You just have.
LITTLE GIRL That man in jodphurs.
HER MOTHER That's not a man, you duffer, that is Miss Walling.
WILLIAM This time, I want a boy.
EDNA He already had a daughter - my sister Doris, so why not? But I was a girl nevertheless
WILLIAM Well, I still intend to bring her up like a boy- hardy, strong and self-reliant
MARGARET Indeed my dear, such qualities are desirable in all children - boys or girls, are they not?
WILLIAM I'm sure I can make a man of her- if she's got it in her. Edna my girl, I've something for you.
EDNA A real hammer and a chisel- Thank you father.
WILLIAM Well lass, let's see you use them.
EDNA And so I made all manner of useless things which my mother very kindly used. In the back garden I made my sculptures; exciting little mountains, low spreading meadows, streams and lakes...
MARGARET Edna, not in my garden bed darling, leave the flowers alone!
EDNA I don't like flowers, they get in the way of my sculpting. I like moulding the soil . growing things is for gardeners. I am going to make roads and build bridges.
WILLIAM Pretty flowers aren't my cup of tea either, but I do like a good ramble on the moors. Coming lass?
EDNA Sometimes we walked twenty miles in a stretch. I never got tired for my mind was so occupied.
WILLIAM See that stunted tree over by there, lass- how far is it ? And give me the answer in chains. Now look at that large boulder on the right...tell me how much fall there is in the ground leading up to it? And that stone wall over yonder - how high is it?
EDNA At first I guessed wildly, but he soon taught me that there are ways of estimating, and judging if you will only apply your eyes
WILLIAM And look with your mind EDNA See that bridge Father, which stones could be removed before it fell down ?
MARGARET/DORIS London Bridge is falling down , falling down, My fair lady!
EDNA Father's business in Plymouth burnt to the ground- we saw it all from the top of a double-decker tram. I was excited by the sight of the fierce licking flames, and the great commotion they caused.
WILLIAM No chicks, we're not exactly bankrupt - but perhaps a fresh start in a new country is in order- new vistas await us.
MARGARET Build it up with wood and clay
DORIS /EDNA Wood and clay, my fair lady!
IS SHE ARTISTIC ? ______
BURNLEY STUDENTS
Song of the Burnley Students (to the tune of Gaedeamus Igitur)
Lavendula Dentata, Lavendula Augustifolia Lavendula Stoechas, Malus Sonningenis
Gompholobium Ecostatum Ceretostigma Willmotttianum
Betula Pendula Betula Pendula
BURN. PRINC. Good Morning Mrs Wall-ing, it is W-A-L-L--I-N-G ,as in wall ?
MARGARET Yes , as in wall , but WO-L-L -ing, actually
BURN.PRINC. And this must be Edna ?
MARGARET Edna Margaret after me
BURN.PRINC. And you're nineteen years old
EDNA Nearly twenty.
BURN.PRINC. Date and place of birth?
EDNA December 4th, 1896,Yorkshire, The Dales
MARGARET Actually we lived in Plymouth - my husband's work ...
BURN.PRINC And now your husband's work has brought you to our fair shores, has it not?
MARGARET Yes, by way of New Zealand
BURN.PRINC. And so Miss Walling, you want to study horticulture- yes?
EDNA I don't know- Mother seems certain
MARGARET Yes.. she does
EDNA I was quite enjoying nursing. It was only when Father wrote about the countryside - the bush...
BURN.PRINC. Quite a popular career for girls now. With the war on , there's hardly enough boys to go round, let alone study fruit and flowers. But it's heavy work and dirty too- we make no allowances
EDNA Why should you ?
BURN.PRINC. Indeed! Sensible attitude! Commendable! There is another side to it - beauty, nature and so forth. Is she artistic?
MARGARET Very, very .
EDNA Mother was lying - all I longed for was the soil, what I might do with it wasn't clear, nor did it bother me
BURN.PRINC. Yes, yes, you've either got it or you haven't. We can't teach it here. By the same token it's no good her having too much of it -she'd be better off in the Art School.
MARGARET I assure you Edna has it, and she wants to study horticulture.
BURN.PRINC Right oh then. The full-time certificate comprises practical work outside, and lessons..
EDNA Inside.
BURN.PRINC. Classes on fruit, vegetables, ornamentals, landscape design and sciences related to horticulture
MARGARET I'm sure it will suit her perfectly
BURN.PRINC. (Reading) "a very fine student, making excellent progress, alert and hardworking"
EDNA In fact I showed no particular promise beyond a capacity for the most laborious tasks. I took inordinate delight in such jobs as wheeling a mound of soil from one spot to another- anything that was straightforward and somewhat bullocking in nature. The lessons on landscape design were boring and tedious. But I did love fruitcanning. I got 99%!
BURN.STUDENTS That's because your were so good at soldering on the tops !
EDNA I have learnt the names of plants and how to plough, I have completed a course..of insubordination, and I have an illuminated certificate to prove it - but I still have no set course in life.
MARGARET That may be so dear, but at least you can get a job
A JOB IS A JOB IS A JOB ______
EDNA And I did as a jobbing gardener, which means heavy jobs, hard jobs, boring jobs, tedious jobs - jobs that have to be done, and no-one wants to do them. It is always my job to do whatever job they want me to.
EMPLOY 1 Dig that up, then dig that in.
EMPLOY 2 Weed that bed, then do the one over there .
EMPLOY 3 Level that ground, then roll that lawn.
EMPLOY 1 Prune those roses and stake those dahlias
EMPLOY 2 Rake those up then cart them over behind the shed and burn them.
EMPLOY 3 Grub those roots out, then move those stones - You'll just have to find a way.
EDNA They appreciated my straight eye, my tidiness and my strength. But most of all my strength because it meant they could order me to wheel in the manure from the footpath without worrying whether it would kill me.
MARGARET It can't be all bad, dear. At least you're outside in the fresh air. You would not have been able to abide those hospital wards.
EDNA But Mother, I hate gardens! They are just work, work and more work.
MARGARET Do try and bear with it for another year, and then if you're sure it's not for you , we'll just have to find something that is. I thought it was what you wanted...
EDNA Mother, I've found it or rather it's found me - a beautiful little dry stone wall sweeping around a rise in a perfect curve, falling away at one end in a clump of birches. When I saw it I knew that gardens could be places to carry out the architectural designs in my head. I am going to design gardens. What is gardening compared to building and dreaming?
ARCHITECT I suppose you could have a go. I'll speak to the clients - I don't know how much they'd be prepared to pay.
EDNA This time I don't care, I need the experience
ARCHITECT What do you think of these French windows ?
EDNA They're very fine, but why are they facing that way ? If you turned the whole house round, they'd be looking down the slopes and onto the terraces I'm going to put there.
ARCHITECT Now just a minute Miss Walling, if you don't tell me what to do, I won't tell you what to do
EDNA But I've always thought that the architect and the landscape designer should work together.
ARCHITECT So you're a landscape designer now ?
EDNA I believe that is the term. The siting of the house is the most important part of the design- don't you think?
ARCHITECT Well- yes, in a way , but I've never considered it quite like that .
EDNA Otherwise you finish up with a dark, cold house and no views worth looking at - even if the windows are perfect. It seems quite pointless to me.
ARCHITECT We can meet the clients, and you can explain to them the importance of siting - afterall it is up to them.
EDNA No, it's not it's up to us. They're only paying for it.
ARCHITECT And living in it.
EDNA Yes, they will be, that's my point.
EMPLOYEE 1 Miss Walling, where should I put these?
EMPLOYEE 2 Miss Walling, are you sure these are what you wanted?
EMPLOYE 3 Miss Walling, how many of these did you order? And where do they go?
EMPLOYE 1 Miss Walling, how do you want this done?
BADGER'S COTTAGE AT MOOROOLBARK ______WILLIAM Moor-owl-Bark ? What sort of a name is that?
MARGARET Moo-Rule-Bark, dear , Moo-Rule-Bark. It's a native name like Ya-rah Ya-rah and Wagger Wagger
WILLIAM Yarrah Yarrah, Wagger Wagger and Moorulebark?
EDNA Father, I'm quite definite, I've already paid the deposit . At least come and see it.
WILLIAM Sorry girlie I'm too old to go far from the hearth these days .My days of tramping in the bush are long past...Moo-rool-bark, where on earth is it?
EDNA About fifteen miles east of the city
MARGARET Mooroolbark - I like it already dear. I'd love to come and see it
EDNA It's not far really just past Croyden
MARGARET Croyden doesn't sound far away at all
EDNA After you leave Kew, follow Whitehorse or Dorset roads to Croyden, then turn right into Hull Road, then right again at Cardigan Road and right again at Pembroke Road, and it's the first gate left on the rise off Pembroke Road
MARGARET It is very reassuring, one is never far from home here.
EDNA Cheerio father...We've left the straggling suburbs and the neat orchards behind us, and we're in the gentle foothills of Mount Dandenong, amongst cow paddocks dotted with eucalypts. Here it is mother, my spot! Three acres of clear space or at least it soon will be, when I remove those She-Oaks over there.
MARGARET I like them dear, they're so wistful.
EDNA Depressing! Far too depressing! The cottage will be here. I'm going to build it myself. I'm sure it can be done quite cheaply.
MARGARET It will have to be. You haven't any money - have you?
EDNA No, but I need ...a sort of mooring in this country, my own roof. I've dreamt about this cottage for as long as I can remember.
MARGARET Where there's a will dear, a way will be found .In the meantime, is there something I can sit on ?
EDNA In blissful ignorance I commenced the building, making it up as I went along with whatever materials come most economically to hand
MARGARET Edna was able to get the stone for next to nothing from a nearby quarry, and that made the walls, the floor and the chimney. Packing cases going begging from my husband's factory made handsome lining boards .
EDNA Mother came up by train every weekend, and seated on that box, she watched it grow around her.
MARGARET Chimney's coming on nicely dear.
EDNA Rather dumpy, don't you think? Not quite the proportions I imagined
MARGARET So long as it doesn't smoke. Now dear what about that window? Wouldn't it be ever so much nicer further to the left? That way when you're sitting here , you'd have a view.
EDNA Mmmn, you're right, but that wall's not quite straight and you'll notice it more if the window's closer in
MARGARET Oh dear, don't worry about that. Things look ever so much nicer when they've got a bit of a lean. It's only men who get worried when things aren't straight, I think they just like playing with spirit levels. It's already looking cosy, and once you've got the roof on you won't know yourself. And just look how the garden's coming on..
EDNA I'm going to build a pergola out there. I've already cut the saplings .
MARGARET It all reminds me of "Wind in the Willows", you should call it Badger's Cottage
EDNA No, I've decided to call it "Sonning" after that little village on the Thames. Remember we rowed there one summer day. I have always known I would build a cottage and wherever it was, in Alaska or the Sahara it would be "Sonning".
AN ENGLISH VILLAGE IN AN AUSTRALIAN COW PADDOCK ______
TOM Hooroo! Miss Walling! Anyone there?
EDNA That'll be Tom Sproul, the land agent from Croyden
BLANCHE Edna, remember what the bank said, you can't go above fifty pounds an acre, however much you want it...
EDNA Good Afternoon Mr Sproul. My friend and associate Miss Sharpe. Miss Blanche Sharpe.Blanche does all the bookwork, I am merely the navvy
TOM Pleased to meet you Miss Sharpe
EDNA Shall we go and inspect the property?
TOM My car's outside.
EDNA We'll walk. Are you alright in those shoes? It gets pretty boggy this time of year
TOM They'll do, they're not my Sunday best. Would have worn my gumboots if I'd have known, however.
EDNA Well Mr Sproul.
TOM Call me Tom, Miss Walling .
EDNA Well then Tom, I've been to the bank, and they'll lend me the money alright but I can't possibly go above forty pounds an acre.
TOM You've got to be joking, the asking price is sixty pounds!
EDNA For eighteen acres it's a very expensive cow paddock
TOM Miss Walling, it's only a cow paddock now, tomorrow it will be a subdivision, and the week after a suburb. Subdivision is the go these days, the city of Melbourne is growing.
EDNA Sprawling rather. Still it will be very expensive to subdivide, and with no service roads, and electricity and water to bring out, very difficult to turn over quickly ...
TOM But just think you could get thirty odd building blocks, or more than fifty if you're prepared to go to a quarter of an acre, or on the other hand, half a dozen poultry farms and the same number of weekenders.
EDNA Yes, I know that, I also know your vendors want to sell, and that I am the only genuine bidder , so there we are.
TOM That is true, I suppose we could come down to fifty seven pounds.
EDNA The most I can offer is forty-three pounds.
TOM Fifty-five pounds and remember that includes the fences.
EDNA Forty-four -I don't want the fences
TOM Then you are going to subdivide afterall - fifty- three and cheap at the price.
EDNA Forty-seven pounds - it won't be the sort of subdivision you're used to.
TOM Oh, no, tell me more.
EDNA I have in mind cottages hidden by trees - at most a dozen.
TOM Fifty-three pounds is as low as I can go
EDNA Well then, forty-eight
TOM Fifty-three
EDNA Forty-eight
TOM You're a hard woman , Miss Walling.
EDNA That may be, but you haven't met my bank manager, and you do know my accountant, Miss Sharpe.
TOM Fifty-two then
EDNA Fifty and that's absolutely my final offer.
TOM Fifty pounds an acre it is!
EDNA It's been a pleasure doing business,Tom
TOM The pleasure's all mine, Miss Walling I'll bring the papers round tomorrow arvo. Good day to you ladies. AN ADVENTURE IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT ______
MARGARET It's rather a risky venture darling, and borrowing money too...
EDNA Mother I know, but just imagine if it had all been cut up into poultry farms and weekend shacks. I couldn't bear chooks and made roads. I can't afford to keep it as it is but at least I can control its destiny.
MARGARET How dear?
EDNA House and Land packages
BLANCHE Edna will design a cottage and garden for each allotment, in consultation with the purchaser. Then sell the land and the plans together for one hundred pounds an acre . She will easily recoup her investment and retain control.
EDNA It will be an adventure in rural development!
MARGARET It still sounds very risky.
EDNA Blanche and I are aware of numerous like-minded people, many of them spinsters like ourselves. They are not satisfied with a suburban block and a house identical to its neighbours
MARGARET Do you think Australians want an English village in a cow paddock ?
BLANCHE It will appeal Mrs Walling. Edna has a knack for knowing what people want, before they have even realised it themselves.
EDNA Mother we have day trippers coming up here now, to have a gander at "Sonning". They are intrigued.
MARGARET I suppose people like novelty.
BLANCHE I am sure Edna's vision will be realised, and she'll double her money.
EDNA "Mistover"- a four room cottage on two acres, three roods.
BLANCHE "Downderry"- a five room cottage on one acre, two roods and twenty perches.
EDNA "Good-a-Meavy"- a four room cottage on two acres, three roods and two perches.
BLANCHE "Badger's Wood"- a four room cottage on two acres, three roods and twenty perches.
EDNA "Winter Green"- a five room cottage on two acres, twenty-five perches. The whole planning of Bickleigh Vale Village will create harmony between the cottage and the landscape. Each cottage shall be screened from its neighbor and sheltered by thickets of Birches and Poplars planted amongst the Swamp Gums and Woolly Ti Tree. Around the cottages blossom trees and clumps of Lilac and everywhere masses and masses of Irises. But now the first task is to plough the paddocks and sow them down with oats to open up the ground
MELBA PAYS A CALL ______
TOOT! TOOT! sound of car horn off
NELLIE You who! Coo-ee! Coo-ee! Anyone there? Edna, it's me, Nellie
EDNA Could it be anyone else? I'm over here M'am dreaming of rural development
JOHN Make way for Madame Melba!
EDNA Madame Melba ,Nellie, do come and have a cup of tea.
NELLIE Tea, Edna? I've bought champagne. We must drink to our dreams. Blanche, Good Afternoon.
BLANCHE Good Afternoon Madame, and welcome home. I do hope your trip was successful
NELLIE It was, it was, but so tiring! I could not wait to get back to Lilydale and my little cottage if only to see what this clever girl has been up to - spending my money in my absence
BLANCHE You and Edna have much to talk about, you will excuse me, I must attend to this month's accounts. Good Afternoon Madame.
NELLIE Accounts on a Sunday! What a little beaver your Blanche is. You are fortunate to have one so dedicated. Good help is difficult enough as it is.
EDNA Blanche is my friend, Nellie.
NELLIE Yes, yes of course she is, but she is still dedicated to your welfare. To our gardens! I do want to congratulate you on the wonderful job you're doing at "Coombe Cottage", it looks splendid!
EDNA Then you're pleased with the gardeners I found you.
NELLIE Delighted! Wonderful gels and so strong - they can do everything. Such a bright idea, I don't know why I didn't think of it myself.
EDNA Thank you...When did you get back?
NELLIE Last week- an exhausting tour, and another recital next week. The truth is ducks I can't afford to stop performing.
EDNA Have you looked at my plans for the tennis court?
NELLIE The Water Lily Garden- quite magnificent ducks, but extravagant, very extravagant.
EDNA Not really, maintenance would be minimal.
NELLIE But where would we play tennis?
EDNA I thought you declared you were tired of tennis
NELLIE I am - all those silly little balls. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!-and so tedious to watch.
EDNA So you don't wish to go ahead?
NELLIE I didn't say that, it's just money ducks, money. If only one's bankers had more imagination.
EDNA I know what you mean. Did you get my account for the girls' wages?
NELLIE I did, I did -I seem to have misplaced my cheque book. I shall send it to you next week. You weren't worried I hope?
EDNA It has been six months.
NELLIE Has it? Of course it has.
TOOT! TOOT! TOOT!
NELLIE I must be off -such a bonzer day for making calls. I'm on my way to afternoon tea at Government House, where I shall sing your praises. Hoo Roo! Ta Ta! Goodbye!
EDNA Goodbye Madame! ...She's gone, you can come out now Blanche. Naturally my Water Lily Garden was never built, but she did eventually pay, and in her own way she did sing my praises. I think her expression was, "an Edna"-"You must have an Edna ". Oh, Gwynneth it's you. Have you finished balling up those trees?
GWYNNETH Yes, Miss Walling - shall I fetch Blanche?
EDNA No, no, I think it best to leave well enough alone for the moment.
FOR THE MISTRESS OF LYNTON LEE ______
GWYNNETH I had just finished at Burnley when I met Edna Walling. I was looking as one does at eighteen for something. As soon as I saw Bickleigh Vale Village, I knew I had found it. It was so unlike the neat suburb I had grown up in. These bare paddocks with scattered Eucalypts and funny little fairy cottages here and there beginning to be hidden amongst the newly planted gardens. I had never seen anything like it before yet I immediately felt at home. And the people living there, the women, all had a different way of thinking, a seriousness, a purpose that attracted and infected me. None of them talked of engagements, trousseaux , fiancés and glory boxes, which was a blessed relief. My future in that way was of no interest to them, but my real future was- what work I wanted to do; what plans and dreams I wanted to realise. All during afternoon tea this heady talk continued as the teapot emptied and was refilled, and then Edna asked if I would like to come and work with her. So I moved to "Sonning" and became gardener, "Girl Friday", mother, secretary, cook and clothes-mender - and I lived in the man's room attached to the potting shed. It was hard work but I loved every minute of it.
BEETHOVEN PLAYING ON THE GRAMOPHONE ON THE LAWN
LORNA Bright sunlight strained of lavish heat Falls duskily through patterned leaves To trace designs upon the walls Or weave a fillet on the eaves
The drowsy solitude is stirred And richened by the song of birds How beauty tempers all with peace A peace that lulls like lovely words
My poem to your Pergola - I want one too, you know.
EDNA Lorna your words are as apt as they are lovely. Do you mind listening to this article I'm writing for HOME BEAUTIFUL . It's called "Ramping Foxgloves". (READING)-Really for gatecrashing, commend me to foxgloves! They just make up their minds and off they go to some spot in the garden you have not had time to think about (and how one loves them for that alone) or perhaps into a border for which you had quite different ideas. You can imagine them forming pairs and marching off to some fairy parade ground they plan to invade. These delightful surprises make such lovely pictures. So why not let the garden go wild in spots and allow the self-sown Foxgloves, Columbines and Forget-Me-Nots to fight it out amongst themselves. My favourite client is one who says:
LORNA I don't want to grow plants. I want to grow scenery.
EDNA Jolly Good! Gwynneth do come and join us. You haven't met Gwynneth Crouch, my new assistant. Miss Lorna Feilden. It's Lorna's house and garden we're designing. Lorna will be the Mistress of "Lynton Lee".
GWYNNETH Pleased to meet you Miss Feilden.
EDNA Tea, Gwynneth?
GWYNNETH Yes, Thank You I'm parched.
LORNA Now Edna, do show me what you have in mind for "Lynton Lee".
EDNA If this is the house and that's your front door...
LORNA Then I shall have a path leading up to it.
EDNA Is that really necessary? There'll be Candlebark Gums dotted around here, and the drive can just meander through this grassy glade. You're not anticipating hordes of visitors ?
LORNA Heavens no!
EDNA We could sprinkle crushed rock, limestone toppings but you won't really need them. Close to the house a few paving stones...
LORNA And my Lavenders, where are they?
EDNA You will have bushes enough on which to dry your handkerchiefs, Never fear.
LORNA I could never have too many, so do show me where.
EDNA LAVENDULA SPICA, Spike Lavender in great clumps along here and interplanted with French or Winter Lavender, LAVENDULA DENTATA and LAVENDER STAECHIS, Italian Lavender with its stubby little purple flowers
LORNA It sounds heavenly- to tire of Lavender is to tire of life.
EDNA And hugging the house, the English Lavenders, LAVENDULA AUGUSTIFOLIA in its many and varied forms but especially, L.A."ALBA", "ROSEA" and "MUNSTEAD".
LORNA Munstead- named after Gertrude Jekyll's garden , how perfect!
EDNA And in this spot- A wine coloured flowering Apple, MALUS SONNINGENIS named after my garden!
LORNA Is that its proper name?
EDNA It is now!
LORNA I want it and a Birch grove as well, and a Wisteria pergola so we can take our tea beneath it, and I want a thyme lawn to lie on, and I want as many fragrant flowers as possible. Flowers for cutting, for smelling and for looking at.
EDNA You shall have Primroses, English Bluebells and of course flocks and flocks of ERIGERON MUCRONATUS, Babies Tears with its confetti of tiny pink and white daisy like flowers.
LORNA I'm sure you know just what I want, and it will be more exquisite than I can ever imagine . I forgot! I do want your "Ramping Foxgloves", rows and rows of the darlings in the softest pinks .
ACCOUNTS AND TREES ______
BLANCHE May 7, advisory visit- two guineas, July 9, garden plan and plant list -six guineas, August 26, visit in connection with supervision of construction and planting - three pounds thirteen and six, September 14, planting visit-two guineas, November 24, planting visit- two guineas. Traveling expenses, four visits - five pounds seven shillings. Total, six, nine, eleven., twenty -four, thirty, ten shillings, carry one pound. Dammit that's not right, two, six, eight, twenty one, twenty five, plus seven, thirty-two shillings. Twelve shillings, carry one pound, eight, thirteen, fifteen , twenty, add one. Grand Total, twenty-one pounds twelve shillings and sixpence!
EDNA Beautiful morning, Blanche, the clarity of an early frost, and no damage done. Don't stay cooped up in there all day. Come outside and listen to these Magpies and Wattle Birds.
BLANCHE I can hear them very well from here Edna, besides I've a pile of accounts to complete....If we're to catch today's post. You really must check these amounts, your writing is worse than any doctors.
EDNA Can't possibly. Not now, Blanche. Mr Hammond'll be here any minute. I'll look at them tonight
BLANCHE Today's post, Edna!....She was often exasperating. If anyone reads my diary , they'll think she was, all the time- "Edna ghastly"- "Edna unbearable, deserted again!" But of course one never writes, "Edna charming" or "Delighted by conversation with Edna "- does one? One tends to dwell on petty details, the missing few shillings and overlook the whole person.
EDNA Over here, Mr Hammond, inspecting a nest. Give me a hoy when you're ready.
ERIC Eric, Eric Hammond, Garden Construction Expert- Landscape Contractor and Consultant. Specialist in light excavations - tennis courts, swimming pools, bowling greens, sports grounds, rock gardens, fish ponds. You want soil, we've got Mountain, River Flat and Merri Creek top dressing. Kilmore and Lilydale rocks, Castlemaine and Broadford flagging, Lilydale toppings and red and yellow gravel. Eric Hammond, contractor to Commonwealth and State Governments.
EDNA Fine morning for it Mr Hammond. Cheerio Blanche. We're off to Olinda for the assault on the slopes of "Mawarra". Tell Gwynneth to go on with that nursery work. I should be back in time for afternoon tea, Cheerio!
BLANCHE Have you got all your drawings?
EDNA Yes, all the ammunitions here. Very steep site, Mr Hammond, and four acres too. But it presents excellent possibilities for exploiting different levels.
ERIC No doubt about you Edna, you love a difficult site.
EDNA I have great plans -a garden based on the principles of the Italian Renaissance - stone.,steps, water and trees.
ERIC You can't make much of a garden without trees.
EDNA Mind you, mention trees and people immediately think of pruning. Give them a tree or a shrub and they say:
ERIC When do I prune it?
EDNA You don't, you say. But it's no use you can't stop people pruning. For some people gardening is - secateurs, saws and stakes.
ERIC I suppose people must have their head sometimes.
EDNA I am happy for plants to seek their own salvation. But gardeners need a firm hand to guide them.
ERIC Oh well, to work eh Edna ?
EDNA While Mr Hammond and I inspect the site and lay out our plans, you might like to stretch your legs .Tea and refreshments are being served over there.
INTERVAL
MAWARRA: AN ITALIAN GARDEN AT OLINDA ______
MRS MC M. Good Morning Miss Walling.
EDNA Good morning Miss Marshall and Miss Marshall?
MRS MC M. Miss Marshall that was, Mrs McMillan that is.
MISS M. Our sister, Miss Lettice Marshall is unable to meet you today, the poor dear is unwell.
EDNA I do hope it is not serious. May I introduce Mr Eric Hammond, my contractor. It will be Mr Hammond's task to realise all this, mine is merely to dream it.
MRS MC M. And ours to pay for it
EDNA Indeed, have you looked at my plans?
MISS M.L We have, but they don't mean much. One sees what one expects to see.
EDNA Yes, I know just what you mean. People can be rather blinkered in their perceptions and blind to possibilities.
MISS M. I merely meant that we are not used to such documents, are we Hilda?
MRS MC M. Our father always looked after business
EDNA Perhaps it will be easier to envisage, if I show it to you on the ground.
MISS M. That sounds rather fatiguing.
MRS MC M. It is wise to know what one is getting before signing for it .
MISS M. Well if we must, we must. Lead on Miss Walling.
EDNA Come with me ladies. We are at your front door and from here you have a fine view looking down the slope to Mount Erica. Think of this view as the grand central axis of my design. Then imagine a number of side axes, forming terraces following the contours of the property .Each of these five terraces has its own distinct character. The first terrace is behind us. On the right are the utility areas and the kitchen garden, on the left a Birch grove and further over a swimming pool.
MISS M. OOhh, I don't know if we want a swimming pool - do you Hilda?
MRS MC M. Let us at least hear Miss Wallling out.
EDNA The second and major terrace is formed by the patio where you are standing, the pergola extending out from the house to the right, and on the left a path leads out to the nutwalk.
MISS M. We wanted a nutwalk, didn't we Hilda?
EDNA Then we descend from the patio via this pair of curving ramps. The ramps will be of stone and overhung with Ivy, Clematis and Fuschias..The third terrace leads out to the left , and it's formed by extensive herbaceous borders.
MISS M. Oohh, herbaceous borders. We do like Miss Jekyll's gardens, we went to Surrey on our last trip.
EDNA Then we plunge down here by a flight of formal steps to the fourth terrace which gives onto a pathway leading to a reflecting pool here, and on the other side tumbles away to the orchard. I plan to leave the existing Native trees over there and over there and interplant with Birches, Dogwoods and Japanese Maples. Italian Cypress will introduce a formal note.
MISS M. Oohh, we thought you might want to remove the Natives, didn't we Hilda?
EDNA No, they clearly thrive on these volcanic soils and they make an excellent foil for the Exotics .
MRS MC M. Well I suppose it saves some expense.
EDNA And now for the final plunge down more steps to the focal point of this grand garden room, an octagonal pool there on the fifth and final terrace. A Rhodendrum walk leads off from this side of the pool and further over to the left of the pool are the tennis courts. There it is - a symphony in stone, steps, still water and beautiful trees.
MRS MC M. It's very grand ,Miss Walling.
EDNA Formal and geometric, but the plantings will soften the lines and create intimacy, so necessary for such a large garden. My plan gives you complete privacy, and screens you from unwanted public gaze. No-one will ever suspect the treasures that lie behind your gates.
MRS MC M. Indeed Miss Walling, that is imperative. We are not showy people. Thank you Miss Walling for your presentation. Come Flora, we shall retire and discuss it with our sister.
I READILY ADMIT TO A WEAKNESS FOR BIRCHES ______
EDNA Well what about it Mr Hammond, can it be done?
ERIC Mmnn! I don't like the look of those curving ramps Edna, the drainage will be a headache, that much I do know.
EDNA There are plenty of challenges for you and Andy - I'd estimate that the stonework alone'll cost a thousand pounds!
ERIC Two thousand more like it. He'll curse the day he showed you how he'd build a dry- stone wall. Have you got the planting lists there? I might just go over it all again.
EDNA They're in the truck.
ERIC There's no doubt about you Edna, you've managed to work in another Birch grove- don't you ever get sick of them? Have you thought of using Spotted Gums instead? The effect would be the same and it'd make a change from the blessed Birch.
EDNA I readily admit to a weakness for Birches; for the Garden designer they are nothing but a strength; providing a disarming foil to so many other plants. BETALA PENDULA, doesn't it sound like a temple in Shangri La? Could anyone ever tire of them? When anyone asks me for a deciduous tree, I always feel inclined to say "a birch" regardless! I have rarely found any tree effective alone, and Birches I particularly like, in clumps and copses.
EDNA Achieving a natural clump is surprisingly easy, it merely requires a good arm and a decent swing. Depending on the number of trees you want, take either a half or a full bucket of potatoes and hurl the contents forcefully over the area. Where each potato has landed, a Birch may be planted, and if they are all singles plant two or three in the same hole, at the same potato as it were. Afterwards the potatoes, if they are past cooking and mashing, may be cut up for seed and planted. In general successful vegetable growing eludes me, but potatoes are foolproof- sometimes I think I should study potatoes and become a potato expert!
HOW TO BUILD A DRY STONE WALL, PROPERLY ______
EDNA This is a big one, Andy, grand opportunities for stonework.
ELLIS So I see Miss Walling. Oh well, I started it, so it's on my head now.
EDNA I don't think I'll ever be able to find anyone who can build a proper dry stone wall.
ELLIS I reckon I could Missus.
EDNA Miss Walling, Miss Edna Walling.
ELLIS Ellis Stones , but Rocky Stones is what my mates call me.
EDNA I can't call you Rocky, and Ellis is too fancy. What's your middle name?
ELLIS Andrew, Miss Walling.
EDNA Well then Andy , show me how it's done.
ELLIS First of all you've got to dig a trench about so wide and so deep, and lay Bluestone gravel on the floor like so. Now when it comes to rocks you can't be too careful. You can't order them by telephone, and you can't rely on getting a satisfactory load sent blind by truck unless the yard knows exactly what size, colour and shape you require. For now, these rocks will have to do, they're the best available.
EDNA I do like a man with stone sense.
ELLIS Position them flat side out with the grain horizontal for maximum load bearing. Tilt them inwards, sloping back ever so slightly so they'll drain properly, in fact the weepholes are already built into this design. There you have it, solid as a house and no mortar.
EDNA No mortar at all; stone walling is deplorable if it will not stand by itself. It is not the mortar that makes walls strong, it's the way they are built .Cement is no remedy for bad building!
ELLIS If it's to be a retaining wall, then they should slope even further back, out of plumb, to take the weight of earth behind them. They'll last for ever and never budge ,no matter how much ERIGERON you grow in the crevices.
MISS M. Miss Walling has put an awful lot of stonework in our garden, Hilda. "Mawarra" will look like Pentridge Goal! What do you think Mr Stones?
ELLIS Miss Walling does like a good wall. Stone walling is her signature, you could say.
A QUIBBLE OVER A POUND ______
MRS MC M. Good Afternoon Miss Walling, I see your work is nearly complete .
EDNA Just the swimming pool and the tennis court, and then my symphony may be heard
MRS MC M. I want to go over this bill. You have charged us for traveling expenses for six visits.
EDNA Yes?
MRS MC M. I distinctly have it in mind, and my sisters agree, that on one occasion we sent our car to collect you.
EDNA Yes my car was in the garage that morning.
MRS MC M. Well, you have charged us a guinea for that visit .
EDNA Yes?
MRS MC M. Well, don't you think you should deduct a guinea from this account?
EDNA No, I don't, traveling expenses are charged at a set rate over a number of visits.
MRS MC M. Well, I've made out the cheque less one guinea.
EDNA Less one pound, one shilling.
MRS MC M. Yes, Miss Walling, am I not making myself clear?
EDNA Abundantly clear, Mrs McMillan. May I have the cheque? Thank you and Good day- I shan't be coming back.
MRS MC M. Why ever not, you have the pool and the tennis court to complete?
EDNA I suggest, you have the pool and the tennis court to complete. I trust you will be able to find a contractor with a more reliable car than mine. Good Day.
MRS MC M. But Miss Walling , wait! This is ridiculous to quibble over a pound.
EDNA Yes, it is ridiculous , Goodbye!
THE FIRE AT SONNING ______DISTANT VOICES CALLING FIRE! FIRE!
GWYNNETH Come quickly! There's been a fire at "Sonning".The cottage has burnt to the ground.
London Bridge is falling down Falling down , My fair lady
EDNA I was in my study. It was late at night in winter - the fire was hissing gently in the hearth- when it started. It was all I could do to save myself. I ran to get a hose.
GWYNNETH We could save nothing. You would think until you had the experience, that all you had to do was take a deep breath and go in, but it's pitch black and the noise is horrific. Edna got the hose and poked it through her little study window, and for one moment, there was a sort of abatement of the flames as the spray of the hose rained down, then the hose broke and it was hopeless.
EDNA One tap per acre was the rule at Bickleigh Vale. A well-mulched garden will stand up to a lot of heat before it requires watering.
GWYNNETH We just stood there and could do nothing.... Edna lost all her treasures- the accumulation of forty years-in a few minutes. Her precious drawings, plans, accounts, hundreds of her photographs and many hundreds of books.
EDNA The autographed copies of Gertrude Jekyll's books that my mother had brought back from her trips home.
GWYNNETH The signed copy of "Melodies and Memories" that Nellie Melba gave her
EDNA And fourteen pairs of jodphurs!...Everything was gone. With small prospect of sleep that night, we occupied our minds with the planning of a new cottage. By 3am the plan for the second "Sonning" was complete.
Build it up with wood and clay Wood and Clay , My Fair Lady
GWYNNETH We moved into the stone Summer house at the bottom of the garden until the new "Sonning" was built.
EDNA At least the garden was unscathed. A bush fire would have been worse. I was devastated but one goes on, and takes solace in the familiar, in activity. Working again in the garden quickly restores one...
GWYNNETH and one's faith in life itself.
EDNA Rebuilding is renewal, and I am determined my new house will be even better.
LORNA We all eager to assist
EDNA And with all hands to the wheel, we began again. WRITING, WRITING...AT THE HERBARIUM ______
EDNA In the end you just have to find out the correct Latin name. It's all very well, identifying plants on the basis of I know it, when I see it and I am hardly ever wrong but that won't do for the readers of one's books. So you pack a lunch, fill the thermos and head to town for a raid on the Herbarium and broach the business of identifying that plant.
JEAN Flower-parts rarely in threes, leaves usually net-veined, two(rarely three) seed leaves, DICOTYLEDONS-flowers without petals or with petals quite separate (even at the base), exception CORREA.
EDNA Excuse me , Mr Willis told me you might know what this is. I am quite flummoxed. Oh, I do beg you pardon, I'm Edna Walling.
JEAN I know, I have enjoyed your books, I am delighted to meet you. Now, I beg your pardon, I am Jean Galbraith, I also write a little myself.
EDNA Of course, the famous Correa, I never miss your column
JEAN Correa is my nom de plume
EDNA "Exception Correa"- what is a Correa?
JEAN A wild Fuschia found in Eastern Victoria.
EDNA Like yourself.
JEAN Oh no Miss Walling, you jest. I live quietly with my parents in Gippsland. I do not come to town very often.
EDNA But I have seen you here before.
JEAN Yes, the Herbarium is my home in the city. Lately I have been here constantly, In fact you are lucky not have to have found me asleep under a bench or even on Baron Von Meuller's couch.
EDNA But, Von Mueller's dead!
JEAN But he kindly left his couch here and often I am forced to stay overnight. I find checking one's manuscript is worse than writing it.
EDNA Yes I do agree, and I am not as fierce a checker as I should be.
JEAN Never mind, I was told that any botanical book is out of date before it's published but strangely that knowledge does not relieve the anxiety about the manuscript
EDNA What is the Manuscript?
JEAN I have almost completed "Wildflowers Of Victoria".
EDNA I look forward to it- I have only just begun to discover the hidden beauties of our wildflowers. My friends and I often go on camping expeditions of a botanical nature. Perhaps if you are free, you might like to join us. To have someone with your knowledge....
JEAN I am not often free, I have my parents to look after.
EDNA So you are not married?
JEAN Oh no, Mother and Father are both invalids. I could not consider marrying. My work is very occupying and I could not leave my garden.
EDNA Yes there is always work and I know about garden attachment. Perhaps one day you might be free for a day trip?
JEAN Yes, perhaps a day trip, collecting somewhere. There are so many places I have not been.
EDNA I have so enjoyed meeting you. Do write to me if you can solve this puzzle. My curiosity is aroused. .
JEAN I shall, most promptly. I am quite confident that I know the genus, but I would prefer to confirm my hypothesis by a comparison, I would not wish to lead you...
EDNA Down the garden path? "The Barn", care of the Post Office , Mooroolbark.
JEAN Yes, yes, address- "Dunedin", Tyers, East Gippsland. Good Afternoon Miss Walling.
EDNA I hope to hear from you soon Miss Galbraith. Perhaps I might visit you, I like motoring about the roadside. Where exactly are you?
JEAN One and a half miles east of the Tyers River bridge. However both my gate and my house are almost hidden by trees and you will think you have come to a wilderness which you have.
EDNA I like a wilderness myself.
JEAN Everything has got rather out of hand while I've been working on the book
EDNA I can imagine, until we meet again Miss Galbraith
JEAN Jean, Miss Walling, Jean.
THE JOY OF FAMILIAR TOOLS ______
SONG: YOUR GARDENING NEEDS words & music: Lorraine Milne
1 There is nothing so agreeable as working in the garden With a tool or two in your hand. For digging, or for hoeing For weeding or for sowing In earth that's full of clay or mud or sand Take a shovel or a fork A pruner or a trimmer A Daisy grubber gets out all the weeds. With a digger or a dibber Or a wonderful path-skimmer Tools will satisfy your gard'ning needs
2 Now a dibber has a handle with a little pointy end That makes a hole in which to plant some seeds. And a tool we call a Daisy grubber comes into its own When your lawn is chock a block with weeds. And if you're in the mood to weed the flower beds A weeding fork is def'nitely the go. You can fossick in the soil without harming anything Then just sit back and watch your flowers grow.
3 And it's absolutely certain you will need some secateurs For cutting and for pruning clean and quick. There are several types of pruners like a Beak or Guillotine And I guarantee that they will do the trick. For making and maintaining the edges of the lawn A trimmer is a tool that you should use. And an edging iron's made to keep your flower beds in order While the flowers bloom in lovely hues.
REPEAT VERSE 1.
EDNA An awful lot of people pay others to garden for them, while they spend all their sunny days on the golf course getting exercise. Such people are not acquainted with the joy of familiar tools. I find it largely a matter of mood when it comes to tools. Sometimes I might do some digging, some hoeing, some path-skimming and some earthworks all with the one tool - a treasured shovel. At such times even I like to garden .
OUT BUSH IN SEARCH OF ... ______
EDNA I think all serious gardeners should have utility trucks. How else to bring home that load of cow manure so generously offered, or that marvelous river sand so indispensable in the potting shed? And for camping trips - how else to fit one's companions, the bedding and the cooking equipment, as well as the must - have- couldn't-possibly-leave-behind specimens collected en route. Coming, Lorna , Jean! We're off flower-gazing and plant -snooping. Speed is not of the essence. On some days we average a dizzying fifteen miles an hour which is not bad going for flower hunters. STOP! Everyone out!
MALE DRIVER What on earth are those people doing? One is sprawled on the sand...
LORNA Sketch book and pencil invisible, scribbling notes for a poem or the outline of a leaf.
MALE DRIVER Another- stiff legs wide apart, head lowered as far as it will go...
EDNA Camera concealed by hands, taking pictures of nature's pictures.
MALE DRIVER A third female person is apparently kneeling on the ground , apparently consulting a telephone book...
JEAN In fact she is pressing botanical specimens. The Melbourne Directory is ideal. Country directories are not heavy enough. At home I find under the hearthrug the perfect place. Nice and dry and just the right weight.
EDNA On one occasion we had aboard a rather staid and well-informed botanist. Not Jean, though she is even more well-informed. Jean can pretend the botanist' part.
JEAN As I have often done before, when the "Capable botanist" has proved incapable.
EDNA This one was capable, and he said-
JEAN "Go slowly here, we might see some "GOMPHOLOBIUM ECOSTATUM."
EDNA Hmmm! That would be interesting, I thought. I had come across it in a book of Native plants, and I thought it sounded like a nasty little creature in a fairy story, so I used to trot it out whenever anyone asked me the name of a plant I didn't know- Bound to be GOMPHOLOBIUM ECOSTATUM!
JEAN STOP!!!
EDNA Obediently I stopped. The growth was long and wet, so I wisely minded the car. They took so long I got out and walked along the edge of the road to see if I could see any Fan Flower It was no use ME looking for the GOMPHLOBIUM. I hoped they wouldn't find it. What's this? I cried involuntarily. THAT brought them out of the undergrowth where they had been nosing about like bloodhounds.
JEAN THAT'S IT! THAT'S IT!
EDNA Said the Botanist briskly, but no thanks to me. Find your own GOMPHOLOBIUM next time!
JEAN GOMPHOLOBIUM ECOSTATUM, a plant with pea flowers and divided leaves, a trailer with leaves of three narrow leaflets and large red flowers. It wasn't flashy plants like the GOMPHOLOBIUM that Edna really liked. We both loved the brave little plants, the ones that hung on in inhospitable places, the ones that were difficult to find and require discernment to appreciate. Gradually Edna came to love these hardy little Natives as I did.
LORNA Edna had always liked Natives, those that she knew. Early on she did not have the opportunity to learn their ways by close study in the field. Jean Galbraith taught her much, also a young man just beginning as a gardener and Landscaper. He came to "The Barn" for lessons from Edna, but he taught her as well. He was so enthusiastic about Native plants, especially CALLISTEMONS, Bottlebrushes. Edna needs enthusiasm around her. She became as enthusiastic about Natives as she had been about the Exotics. She abandoned her Birches.
EDNA If a Gum will do just as well, why use a Birch? It takes some people a long time to distinguish one Gum from another, and because of the predominance of Eucalypts, people say the Bush is monotonous. But Eucalypts keep you on your toes more than any other race of trees. And once you become a Gum connoisseur, there's no going back to Birches.
THE FRONT GARDEN OF THE NATION ______LORNA Edna was prone to Causes, and the Bush was her last great cause. At an age when most people are making plans for retirement or falling asleep in a deck chair, Edna was campaigning.
EDNA If only people realised that the natural Bush bordering our roads and highways is the Front Garden of Our Nation and needs protection from thoughtless destruction. A Policy of Hands-Off the Roadside might be better than some of the tree-planting and "beautification" schemes we now indulge in. People are too eager to clean up the Bush along the roadside, dismissing it as scrub. Having cleared, they fill the roadsides up with inappropriate species of neatly spaced trees, with no heed to the ecological and aesthetic damage they are doing. Progress towards ugliness is the only name for it. Poor Australia! Burning Off is our national sport, closely followed by Bull-Dozing and Slashing!
JEAN Edna and I have written a book together
EDNA I took the photographs and Jean wrote the captions but no-one will publish it.
LORNA But there are still letters to write to the papers about one thing and another.
EDNA They want to put a restaurant on Mt Dandenong!
JEAN Australian Native plants should be used to landscape Olympic Village .
EDNA It's a great honour to have the Olympic Games in Melbourne, so let's flaunt our distinctive Flora.
JEAN Edna was appalled by the proposal to flood Lake Pedder. We both were, we wrote letters.
EDNA And they want to mine Fraser Island. If we don't fight to save them, the generations to come will curse our blindness, and well they might.
LORNA No-one wanted to know about conservation, then. The results were depressing, as we all know. Edna was exhausted. She'd never really been ill, at least nothing she'd admitted. But age was taking its toll. Everywhere the suburbs were encroaching, even Bickleigh Vale Village was no longer a haven for her.
A JACARANDA AT THE END ______
EDNA I'm going to Queensland. The country around Buderim is unspoiled. I have found a cottage that will suit, in the garden there are two huge Jacarandas. I have an idea to make a hilltop village like the ones you see in Italy. Lorna, do come. I've found a cottage for you not far from mine, we can plan your garden together.
LORNA In her last garden, she returned to the plants of her childhood.
EDNA This garden of mine is not going to be a fashionable one stuffed with Natives - much as I love them.
LORNA Contrary to the end, that was Edna, with Silver Bells and Cockle Shells...How did her garden grow?... After a series of strokes Edna died in August 1973. I thought she would last to see the Jacarandas in flower, but it was not to be. She was not an easy person to nurse. I always said I'd bury her under a bed of Westmoreland Thyme, but I didn't. The climate here is far too humid...
APOTHEOSIS ______
GARDEN EXPERT Garden design today is still a matter of juggling the perennial trio - the pool, the patio and the barbeque. Forget about lawns - they just guzzle water, but everyone wants a water feature these days. It's all a matter of individualizing the options, and they still want to know where to put them. Then they want to go one step further and create an original setting, and if we're talking Heritage concept then that necessitates a cottage style garden. I also specialise in high end features, if you're going to spend money then you want to add value to your property. In my role as a Landscape Artist, I facilitate an interface between my colour scheming and the clients lifestyle and their own personal taste vision. Everyone wants that "wow" factor in their garden and for others to ask - who did that? Or Where did you get that? It’s a very eclectic look!
HIS CLIENT Excuse me, excuse me, but could you tell me how you got that lovely natural looking scattering of daffodils in the lawn?
GARDEN EXPERT Not a problem! It's easy just take a basket of bulbs and toss them in the air. where they land, you plant.
HIS CLIENT How original!
END OF PLAY......
SOURCES ______
Writings by EDNA WALLING
Gardens in Australia, Oxford University Press, Melbourne,1943 Cottage and Garden in Australia, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1947 A Gardener's Log, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1948 The Australian Roadside, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1948 On the Trail of Australian Wildflowers, The Mulini Press, Canberra, 1984
In recent years selections of Walling's writings have been re-issued under various titles
About EDNA WALLING
The Gardens of Edna walling, Peter Watts, National Trust of Victoria , Melbourne, 1981 Gardens in Time: In the Footsteps of Edna Walling, Trisha Dixon & Jennie Churchill, Angus & Robertson, 1998 Edna Walling Lives: Countrywide, ABC television, July 23, 1986
GENERAL
An Australian Gardener's Anthology , Mc Phee Gribble, Melbourne, 1982 The Great Gardens of Australia, Tanner & Begg, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1976 Australian Garden Design, Ellis Stones, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1971 Landscaping with Australian Plants, Glen Wilson,Nelson, Melbourne, 1975 Wildflowers of Victora, Jean Galbraith, Lothian, Melbourne, 1950 The Garden in the Valley, Jean Galbraith, Five Mile Press, Melbourne, 1985 "A Career for Australian Girls: How to earn a living with spade, fork and brains," Wilma, Everlady's Journal,1January, 1927 Living in the Environment, Alistair Knox Interview with Jean Galbraith, conducted Meredith Rogers & Suzanne Spunner, Tyers, 1987
OTHER
Since 1989, when EDNA FOR THE GARDEN was researched and written a raft of books about EDNA WALLING and her gardens have been published - among the most notable is the biography - THE UNUSUAL LIFE OF EDNA WALLING by Sara Hardy, Allen & Unwin ,2005.
Sara Hardy played Edna Walling in EDNA FOR THE GARDEN
EDNA FOR THE GARDEN ______was first produced by HOME COOKING THEATRE COMPANY in the Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne, February/March 1989
Written by SUZANNE SPUNNER Direction /Design MEREDITH ROGERS
Production/Front of House VICTORIA JONES Stage Management CLAIRE DE BRUIN
SONG: Your Gardening Needs LORRAINE MILNE
Costumier TRIC SIMMONS Photographs PONCH HAWKES Additional Graphics TRUDY HAYTER GAIL DAVIDSON
CAST
Edna Walling SARA HARDY
Blanche Sharpe Mrs Hilda MacMillan CARMELINA DI GUGLIELMO Gwynneth Crouch
Margaret Walling Lorna Feildon MONICA MAIN Nellie Melba Miss Flora Marshall
William Walling Tom Sproul Architect ERNIE GRAY Eric Hammond Ellis Stones
EDNA FOR THE GARDEN is dedicated to the memory and inspiration of ELIZABETH HONYBUN who suggested a play about Walling by showing us her first editions of Walling's books in 1982.
HOME COOKING THEATRE CO was formed in Melbourne in 1981 - all our productions were conceived and written with a particular audience and space in mind. We have either performed in non-theatre spaces - art galleries and living rooms or transformed or domesticated existing theatres. Our productions are grounded in research and utilize documentary methods, whether they deal with historical or contemporary, ordinary or famous women. We are committed to the belief that women are complex and interesting theatre subjects per se. Our work is informed by feminist social analysis, but it does not prescribe women as victims.