Spring Treasures

Every year, two tender thoughts about Spring flourish faithfully in my mind.* Like the perennial seeds they are, they blossom from my memory into a quiet smile every time I see the promise of Spring, and I treasure these memories.

A potted plum tree sits on the deck outside the French doors from my kitchen. I start to notice the buds on the naked branches in July, where my anticipation for summer fruit grows as the buds puff out, and bees flit from blossom to blossom. Elsewhere in my back garden, pastel pink cherry plum blossoms are usually first to announce the Spring in early August, followed closely by daisies, snowdrops, bluebells, lilac, and freesias in symphony with the hardy chorus of rosemary and lavender. Little by little the Spring serenade sweeps around my garden as verdant new shoots sprout into leafy green trees. The climax is a Japanese Cherry (Prunus serrulata) in my front garden, with its pendant clusters of peony like blossoms erupting in a riot of pink. Invariably, the September winds whoosh through and the delicate petals rain down like confetti carpeting the path and lawn, and before I know it, the opportunity for Hanami has passed me by.

Japanese Cherry (Prunus serrulata)

I’ve always wanted to host a little picnic under the Japanese Cherry during that fleeting moment, a window of opportunity that might only last a few days, and inconveniently mid-week too, but I have never been organised to make it happen. My great grandfather on the other hand, was far more enterprising in capitalising on the promise of Spring glory, and one occasion was recorded for posterity in a letter to his son.

Beauty of Nice

Family folklore passed on from my grandfather Jack to my parents told me that my great grandfather, John Sheehy Meagher, was a gardener when he left school in Haddon (a mining town about 15 kilometres southwest from Ballarat). However, this wasn’t his calling in life.  He went from night school to university working his way from teacher to barrister-at-law.  I have never come across any records to verify his time as a gardener, but there is an undated letter in the family archives detailing a dogged pursuit for a particular flower that was seen from a train window.

John wrote a letter on his professional stationary at his office at 52 Selborne Chambers, Chancery Lane, Melbourne to his second eldest son, Frank Meagher, enclosing three pots of seeds featuring French hollyhocks and a double stock of Beauty of Nice (Matthiola Icana).

He wrote in his letter,

Beauty of Nice double stocks, the parents of which were seen by me at Brighton, whereupon I descended from the train & after exhaustive enquiries, found the grower to be one Alf a municipal gardener whom, for a substantial consideration, I induced to part with part of his treasure.

Alf’s reluctance to share a part of his treasure may have been attributed to the elusive nature of double stocks. Double stocks are sterile and can only be produced from the seed of single flowered plants. The single flowered plants typically would only produce one quarter of doubles in the offspring. A keen eye for detail and understanding of genetics is required to produce the double flowered form due to a recessive gene variant.

Read the letter in full here.

The elusive nature of double stocks heightened the appeal to gardeners who prized the floral display and heady scent of cloves.  The floral display must have been impressive from a distance (and at pace) to compel John to alight the train in search of these Spring beauties, and his note to Frank, ‘the parents of which were seen by me at Brighton’ suggests knowledge of single and double stocks.

‘Double Stocks’ in The Advocate Melbourne, Thu 27 Sep 1928, p.48

Pots of Seeds

John sent the letter and ‘pots of seeds’ to Frank’s residence and professional medical practice at 220-226 Lygon Street, Carlton. Will and Estate papers described the property as ‘land which has frontage of 66 feet by a depth of 165 feet are two one-hundred-year-old brick buildings of two storeys … out buildings consist of an old timber garage, brick stable, coach house and loft.’ [2]  Presumably not only were there some garden plots on the property, but Frank was interested in growing flowers too.

MMBW plan for 220-226 Lygon Street, Carlton

It is not difficult to discern John’s interest in gardens, he mentions getting the garden in ‘royal order’ for eldest son’s Leo’s return from the War in 1919 and roses were specially selected for their thorns to make a fence boy proof. Also in the family archives, John delightedly described the local shenanigans that took place in the front garden of his house in Manningtree Road, Hawthorn in a letter to another son Lux, who was working as a journalist in Western Australia.

However, it is a painting by renowned etching artist Victor Cobb depicting the garden at the family home, Ikerrin, in all its Spring glory that really captures John’s pride and joy in the garden. The watercolour painting illustrates the rear of the double fronted house with a central pathway bordered with an assortment of ruby and golden yellow flower heads with touches of cornflower blue leading to the wraparound verandah. The foreground of the painting contains an oval shaped flower bed in the centre of a lawn, focusing on tall blue cottage plants with green shrubbery.

‘Ikerrin’ painting by Victor Cobb, 1939

I’ve always wondered about the species of these tall blue flowered stems, with hollyhocks and foxgloves crossing my mind. Given the pride of place both in the lawn and the painting, it doesn’t seem a stretch to think they just might be the ‘French Hollyhocks, an excellent durable strain of tall growth’ or the much sought after ‘Beauty of Nice’ double stocks.

What do you think?

*As for those annual tender Spring thoughts, ever since my baby cousin said the end of August was a perfect time to sell a property when the blossoms are out, I find myself looking for those first blooms in winter. My brother once mentioned a soft spot for green new shoots, so when I see verdant new leaves, I often think of him.

[1] Matthiola incana, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthiola_incana

[2] Lilla Meagher, Will and Probate, 1962, held by PROV, VPRS 28/P4, 2720/588

Selected examples in the Advocate include How Can I Get Double Stocks? 1927; Double Stocks, 1928; Double Flowering Stocks, 1929; Doublestocks, 1931;