16. Alpine Meadow

Bryan Hewitt:

…the alpine meadow was inspired by Mr Bowles’s trips to the Pyrenees. He used to go when his hay fever would be at its worst in the summer and he’d go away for about a fortnight or when the air was purer. His staff had a bit of a holiday around about that time as well; it was a break for them.

In the Alps he’d see these wonderful fields of bulbs of crocuses, of daffodils, of fritillarias and he brought these plants back with him.

Narrator:

Following a trip to the mountains in June 1909, Bowles wrote:

Voice of Bowles:

As I had never been among Alpine meadows at that time of year, I soon forgot the rain and cared nothing about how wet my feet were getting: for all the meadows are like the gayest gardens, with lovely wild flowers of all the colours imaginable.

Narrator:

It was after his father died, in 1918, that Bowles began to put into place long held plans for a meadow below the Rock Garden. He planted a sequence of flowers that seemed to grow as naturally in the grass here, as they did in the mountains.

Leucojums, or snowflakes, and snowdrops were the first to appear, followed by Scilla bithynica, crocuses and early daffodils. As summer advanced, camassias, hyacinths and wild geraniums covered the meadow with a cloud of blue. After Bowles died the Alpine Meadow suffered from neglect. Spring bulbs still put on a brave show. Many of the crocuses he brought back escaped into the lawn and into some of the other beds. But bamboos took over much of the area. Soon after restoration work began the bamboos were cut down. They revealed an unexpected sight: a purple flowering plant with no leaves, called Lathraea clandestina, or Purple Toothwort. Bowles had encouraged it to grow here. You can see some Purple Toothwort if you take a look at the roots of the maple tree growing in the Rock Garden.

Narrator:

Bowles once wrote:

Voice of Bowles:

I would give anything possible in the shape of toil and thought, even putting up with such evils as dirty nails and worn-out garments to achieve even a quarter of an acre of such a meadow as those I rushed past in the autobus on the outskirts of Predazzo in the Italian Dolomites.

Narrator:

Bowles collected grasses that were suitable for his Alpine Meadow. This was at a time before grasses were popular in gardens, but Bowles appreciated them for their dramatic possibilities: their height and their movement. He referred to:

Voice of Bowles:

“tall flowering stems, delightfully light and elegant, which appear in July and last until spring…

MUSIC: (Reprise) Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses Levasseur establish and run under the next paragraph and Voice.

Narrator:

In the house, during the winter months Bowles filled vases with displays of dried grasses. His housekeeper, Alice, was not so keen. And whenever she had a chance, she threw the dust-gathering stems away. This irritated Bowles, who complained:

Voice of Bowles:

“Alice has been at it again!”