But every so often, such as 1870 when William Robinson published The Wild Garden, come waves of reassessment. We are living through such a moment, with the loss of open ground, insects, birds, etc, a countervailing enthusiasm for wildflowers and a more natural look is upon us. So now is a good time to pay attention to weeds.
Anna Chapman Parker gave a talk in the cafe at Camden Garden Centre about her book Understorey alongside Wild City author Florence Wilkinson (Image: Duckworth Books) Sometime ago, Duckworth Books sent a proof copy of Anna Chapman Parker’s Understorey, A Year Among Weeds in case I wanted to endorse it. A quick leaf through the pages of lively spontaneous drawings, text, quotes and occasional photographs was enough to suggest that here was something special, disguised as an ordinary walk through a year of accompanying young children to school. A walk made less ordinary by always having a pen and notebook to hand, and a mind ready to embrace weeds.
Last Wednesday (June 26) Chapman Parker and Florence Wilkinson (whose Wild City has just come out in paperback) were in conversation about the book at Camden Garden Centre's cafe Pritchard and Ure. A gathering at a favourite garden centre about an arresting topic? Naturally, I went along. On a warm evening, surrounded by carefully curated bric-a-brac, seemingly from the homes of great-aunts back from a vanishing empire, we sat in a curve facing the speakers.
Several of the group fanning themselves added to the m.