| Welcome to The World of Pete's Garden |
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| After a meteoric rise from gardener/park keeper in Walthamstow, London, in 1962, to first class certificated gardener on Stevenage Borough Council in 1964, Pete was appointed Garden Steward at Offley Place, Great Offley, Herts, (see pictures below) in 1965, where he had sole responsibility for the grounds and educational gardens and greenhouses. The slide show shows OFFLEY PLACE, VIVIEN IN THE GREENHOUSE AT OFFLEY, THE OLD GARDEN GATES, THE ROSE GARDEN (long shot and in close-up) and OFFLEY HIGH STREET, SHOWING OUR COTTAGE (arrowed) |
| Whilst there, Pete began writing articles for the horticultural press such as The Gardeners Chronicle and Garden News, and illustrating them with his own drawings and photographs. He also developed a special form of garden for growing woodland plants, known as The Log Garden, which was highly reccommended by The National Primula & Auricula Society. Specialising in Primulas, Pete developed his own varieties, such as Primula Perryanthalabra, (name suggested by Geoff Amos of Garden News), pictured below left, next to THE LOG GARDEN picture... |
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| From Offley, in 1967, he moved on to Blackpool, Lancs Corporation, where he designed Carpet bedding schemes, (pictured left), and created a woodland garden near Stanley Park, (pictured below). Tragically, Pete's first wife, Dorothy, died there (her own home town) on 23rd June that year, leaving Pete to bring up his two daughters, Vivien, aged 5, and Deborah, only 15 months old. The Picture on the right shows one of Pete's Carpet Bedding designs... |
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| THE LOG GARDEN THE LOG GARDEN, which was developed by Pete in the early sixties, as a means of growing primulas and other woodland plants in a relatively small garden. It was hailed as a breakthrough by The NATIONAL AURICULA & PRIMULA SOCIETY. |
| PINK BLUEBELLS REDISCOVERED AT OFFLEY PLACE! Pete has always had a fascination for the unusual; Indeed, whilst Garden Steward at Offley College, he dedicated a whole section to Anomalous Wild Plants and wrote an article about this for Hertfordshire Countryside. Recently, he rediscovered his original Pink English Bluebells still growing at Offley Place, and red cowslips suddenly appeared in his garden at Austen Paths, Stevenage. (See pictures, Right) |
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| PETE, shown here in Falaraki, Rhodes, has been gardening since 1961. Here he shares his passion with you... |
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| Updated 28th SEPTEMBER 2009 |
| Pete Perry's long-awaited books, THIS GARDEN EARTH and VANDALS IN THE GARDEN are now available to buy from PETE'S STORE, via the internet at AMAZON, WATERSTONES, FOYLES and all other internet outlets, as well as from all leading bookshops. It is the result of over forty years research. BE ONE OF THE FIRST TO OWN THESE AMAZING BOOKS! |
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| THE NAKED LADY and THE CONJOINED MUSHROOM! THE RED BUTTERCUP!!! |
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| PETE'S GARDEN - THE MOVIE! Click Here |
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| THE RED BUTTERCUP... No, your eyes are not deceiving you - this is the World's first red buttercup, Ranunclulus acris rubra, - |
| and it has been bred, after many years of painstaking work, by our editor-in-cheif, PETE PERRY. For years, Pete has been trying to introduce alternative colours into native wild plants, and this has included trying to cross our native buttercup with the Persian Ranunculus, which comes in a variety of colours. This year, his work has been rewarded... |
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| After three years of trials, Pete plans to cross this with his white buttercups and the common yellow ones, to produce pink and orange shades. |
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| THE NAKED LADY & THE CONJOINED MUSHROOM Yes, here they are, - a double |
| naked lady (colchicum autumnale plena) known as 'Waterlily' and a conjoined mushroom. WHAT NEXT IN PETE & NIKKI'S GARDEN? |