Harry Roberts

Harry Roberts was an English writer and editor whose gardening books combined practical instruction with a preference for informal, individual planting. The Book of Old-Fashioned Flowers appeared as part of the Handbooks of Practical Gardening series, which Roberts edited for John Lane. Illustrated with drawings by Ethel Roskruge, it discusses hardy plants suited to English outdoor gardens, seasonal care, propagation, coastal conditions, pests, and the planning of generous borders. Roberts opposed rigid carpet bedding and argued that healthy plants and the gardener’s own temperament should guide design more than fashionable color schemes. His earlier The Chronicle of a Cornish Garden described the transformation of an overgrown plot, while later books extended his practical interest to other aspects of country life. The Book of Old-Fashioned Flowers is directed especially toward inexperienced gardeners, but it also preserves historical plant lore and acknowledges a wide network of horticultural contributors. Roberts presents a garden as a living expression of its owner, not as a fixed display governed by universal rules.