In Defence of Mrs Cran

Everything Trevor says about poor Mrs C is of course perfectly
accurate - she is indeed a socialising and sentimentalising gusher and
her prose is often not so much purple as puce - but there are also
things to be said for her. I don't think she would herself have
claimed to be an expert plantswoman - she sold herself on enthusiasm,
not expertise (strikes a sympathetic chord in MY heart, at least...) -
but she was interested in and informative about those who were. And by
now the info has become historically valuable, of course, if you're
interested in gardening as a skill with a past. I remember, for
instance, some fascinating and really surprisingly detailed stuff in
the S. African book about a couple of English girls trying to make a
go there in the semi-wilds as nursery-owners and there is some equally
fascinating stuff in the American book about, e.g., Lester Rowntree. I
don't think anyone would read her now (and I don't if anyone read her
then) for detailed info. about PLANTS - but it's certainly fascinating
now to read her about (then) plantsPEOPLE: who they were, what they
were like, how (financially, socially, psychologically) they
functioned. And since she's so unfashionable that her books are
virtually given away by dealers, it's well worth picking up a vol. or
two for some bedtime wintertime reading. The 'travel' ones are
probably the best, I think - the S. Af, American and African books.
About her own garden, she is at her gushy, sentimental, snobbish
worst.
Tim Longville
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