Percival Stephen Cane (1881–1976) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

designer and writer.

Biography

Cane was born and educated in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, studying

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

. He designed scores of gardens over a long and distinguished career, and won frequent medals for his gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show. As a writer, he published four books on gardening, and owned and published two horticulture magazines. His gardens were firmly in the Arts and Crafts style, and he was a particular admirer of

Harold Peto Harold Ainsworth Peto FRIBA (11 July 1854 – 16 April 1933) was a British architect, landscape architect and garden designer, who worked in Britain and in Provence, France. Among his best-known gardens are Iford Manor, Wiltshire; Buscot P ...

's work.

Selected gardens

Cane began designing gardens around 1919 and within a decade he had become one of the most sought-after designers of his day. His gardens range from the grounds of the Jubilee Palace of

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...

, the Emperor of Ethiopia, in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

, to a tiny town garden in Taptonville Road, Sheffield. Other commissions included: * Caythorpe Court in Lincolnshire for Mrs

Elma Yerburgh Elma Amy Yerburgh (née Thwaites, 30 July 1864 – 6 December 1946) was a member of the Thwaites family who was owner and then chairman of the Thwaites Brewery company (of Blackburn, England) from 1888 to 1946. She was the daughter of Daniel Thw ...

* Ivy House, Hampstead, for

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20t ...

in 1926 *

Llannerch Hall Llanerch Hall, Trefnant, Clwyd, Wales, is a country house with medieval origins. It was rebuilt twice at the beginning and at the end of the 17th century, was again rebuilt in the 19th century, and further modified in the 20th. The hall is now di ...

St Asaph, North Wales, 1927–29 * Hascombe Court, Godalming, 1928–29 * Boden's Rise, Ascot, in 1929 * the King's House, Burhill in 1935 for th
Royal Warrant Holders' Association
ref name=":0" /> * the grounds of the British Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair *

Dartington Hall Dartington Hall in Dartington, near Totnes, Devon, England, is an historic house and country estate of dating from medieval times. The group of late 14th century buildings are Grade I listed; described in Pevsner's Buildings of England as "on ...

for Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst, from 1945 to 1971 * Hungerdown House, Seagry, Wiltshire, 1945–46 * Seales Court, Seagry, Wiltshire, 1957 *

Falkland Palace Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. It was one of the favourite places of Mary, Queen of Scots, providing an escape from political and religious turmoil. Today it is under the stewardship of ...

, Fife from 1946 * Westfields, Oakley, Bedfordshire, 1953–64 * Sutton Park, Yorkshire in 1962 *

Mellerstain House Mellerstain House is a stately home around north of Kelso in the Borders, Scotland. It is currently the home of the 14th Earl of Haddington, and is a historical monument of Scotland. History The older house or castle at Mellerstain included ...

, Scottish borders * Moundsmere Manor, Basingstoke *

Sulgrave Manor Sulgrave Manor, Sulgrave, Northamptonshire, England is a mid-16th century Tudor hall house built by Lawrence Washington, the great-great-great-great-grandfather of George Washington, first President of the United States. The manor passed out of ...

, Oxfordshire

Awards and designations

Cane's contributions to important gardens in England are noted in nine entries in the Historic England

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

, which aims to "celebrate designed landscapes of note." They are: the 1927 terrace on the hilltop a
St Ann's Hill
in Chertsey; his embellishments and extensions in the late 1920s to designs by Gertrude Jekyll at Hascombe Court in Godalming; the gardens a
Seven Stones House
in Kent; advice on the gardens a
Ditchingham Hall
in Norfolk; 1930s developments to the gardens at

Woburn Abbey Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, ...

, Bedfordshire; formal terraced gardens from the 1930s (no longer extant) at

Stoneleigh Abbey Stoneleigh Abbey is an English country house and estate situated south of Coventry. Nearby is the village of Stoneleigh, Warwickshire. The Abbey itself is a Grade I listed building. History In 1154 Henry II granted land in the Forest of Arden ...

, Warwickshire; the 1940s Priory gardens at

Hedsor House Hedsor House is an Italianate-style mansion in the United Kingdom, located in Hedsor in Buckinghamshire. Perched overlooking the River Thames, a manor house at Hedsor can be dated back to 1166 when the estate was owned by the de Hedsor Family. ...

, Buckinghamshire; the tiltyard, hydrangea walk, glade, stone bastion, monumental flight of steps, and other features at Dartington Hall, Devon; and formal terraced gardens installed in 1960 a
Sharpham House
Devon. Two gardens wholly or partly designed by Cane in Scotland are designated "of national importance" and are thus included on the

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...

Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes The ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland'' is a listing of gardens and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in Scotland. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a cont ...

. His work at Falkland Palace in the late 1940s "gives Falkland Palace gardens outstanding value as a Work of Art." The river garden he designed for

Monteviot Monteviot House is the early 18th century home of the Marquess of Lothian, the politician better known as Michael Ancram. It is located on the River Teviot near Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. History The house which sits ...

, Jedburgh, in the 1960s contributes to the garden's designation as "outstanding." In addition, the gardens designed by Cane are mentioned in the Statement of Special Interest for the listed building at Ardencraig,

Rothesay Rothesay ( ; gd, Baile Bhòid ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay, which offers an onward rail ...

. Cane exhibited show gardens at the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

's Chelsea Flower Show over a number of years, winning eight gold medals (in 1936, 1937, 1938, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1952) and three silver-gilt (1934, 1935 and 1950). In 1963 he was awarded the RHS's

Veitch Memorial Medal The Veitch Memorial Medal is an international prize issued annually by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Goal The prize is awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement o ...

, an international prize awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the art, science or practice of horticulture."

Selected writings

Cane published four books on horticulture during his career: * ''Modern Gardens British and Foreign'', Special Winter Number of "The Studio", 1926–27, London : The Studio, 1927. * ''Garden design of to-day'', London : Methuen, 1934. * ''The Earth Is My Canvas'', London : Methuen, 1956. * ''The creative art of garden design'', London : Country Life, 1967. He also owned and edited the horticultural magazines ''My Garden, Illustrated'' (1918–20) and ''Garden Design'' (1930–38). A full-length biography, ''Percy Cane, Garden Designer'', was written by Ronald Webber and published in 1975.

Gallery

File:Falkland Palace Garden - geograph.org.uk - 952544.jpg, Falkland Palace Garden File:Falkland Palace - geograph.org.uk - 703512.jpg, Falkland Palace Garden File:Falkland Palace - geograph.org.uk - 703518.jpg, Falkland Palace Garden File:The Glade, Dartington Hall Gardens - geograph.org.uk - 827466.jpg, The Glade, Dartington Hall Gardens File:The Glade, Dartington Hall Gardens - geograph.org.uk - 1401688.jpg, The Glade, Dartington Hall Gardens File:Steps up Heath Bank, Dartington - geograph.org.uk - 827477.jpg, Flight of Steps, Dartington Hall Gardens File:The Tiltyard, Dartington - geograph.org.uk - 497464.jpg, The Tiltyard, Dartington Hall Gardens File:Azalea Dell, Dartington, in autumn - geograph.org.uk - 270267.jpg, Azalea Dell, Dartington Hall Gardens File:George Henry Paulin (1888-1962) - Anna Pavlova (after 1931 -q-) left, garden of Ivy House, Golders Green, London (now the Jewish Cultural Centre) May 2013 (10811092933).png, A Paulin statue in the garden at Ivy House File:1939britishpavilion.jpg, British Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair File:Sutton Park Sutton on the Forest.jpg, Sutton Park, Yorkshire File:Trees on St.Ann's Hill - geograph.org.uk - 1224325.jpg, St Ann's Hill, Chertsey

References