by Sue Shephard
McQueen-Pope, M., The Footlights Flickered: The Story of the Theatre in 1920s. Herbert Jenkins, London, 1959.
Moorehead, Caroline, Sidney Bernstein: A Biography. Jonathan Cape, London, 1984.
Morgan, J. and Richards, A., A Paradise out of a Common Field: The Pleasures & Plenty of the Victorian Garden. Random Century, 1990.
Nichols, Beverley, Down the Garden Path. Jonathan Cape, London, 1932.
—Garden Open Today. Jonathan Cape, London, 1963.
—The Art of Flower Arranging. Collins, London, 1967.
Nicolson, Nigel, Diaries and Letters 1930–1939. Collins, London, 1966.
Pimlott, Ben, Queen. Elizabeth II and the Monarchy. HarperCollins, London, 2002.
Pugh, Martin, We Danced all Night: A Social History of Britain Between The Wars. The Bodley Head, London, 2008.
Rhodes, James, ed., Chips: The Diaries of Sir Henry Channon. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1967.
Schiaparalli, E., Shocking Life. Autobiography. J.M. Dent, London, 1954.
Sissons, M., and French, P., The Age of Austerity. Penguin, London, 1964.
Souhami, Diana, Gluck: Her Biography. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1988.
Taylor, Barbara Lea, Old-fashioned and David Austin Roses. Firefly Books, Ontario, Canada, 2004.
Stuart Thomas, Graham, Old Shrub Roses. Sunningdale, Hampshire, 1955.
Vickers, Hugo, Cecil Beaton: A Biography. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2002.
Walsh, Seamus, In the Shadow of the Comer Mines. Castlecomer, Ireland, 1999.
Windsor, Wallis, The Heart Has its Reasons: Memoirs by the Duchess of Windsor. D. McKay, London, 1956.
Picture Acknowledgements
1. Connie aged about five (The Estate of Vita Marr); 2. Connie aged about sixteen (The Estate of Vita Marr); 3. Connie and her father with the Phoenix Caravan (Courtesy of the Peamount Hospital, Co. Dublin); 4. Connie’s engagement photo (The Estate of Vita Marr); 5. James Heppell Marr et al (The Estate of Vita Marr); 6. Syrie Maugham (Copyright reserved/Millar and Harris); 7. Shav Spry (The Estate of Vita Marr); 8. Gluck (Courtesy of Roy Gluckstein); 9. Display for Atkinsons’ window (Courtesy of Martine Frost); 10. ‘Chromatic’ by Gluck (Courtesy of Roy Gluckstein); 11. Rosemary Hume (The Estate of Vita Marr); 12. Val Pirie (Courtesy of Martine Frost); 13. Oliver Messel (Courtesy of the Dorchester Hotel); 14. Victor Stiebel and models (Getty Images); 15. Connie checking an arrangement (Copyright © The Estate of André Kertesz); 16. Decorative kale leaves (Courtesy of Martine Frost); 17. ‘Blackamoor with whitewashed leaves’ (Courtesy of Martine Frost); 18. The shop in South Audley Street (Courtesy of Martine Frost); 19. Staff in the shop (Getty Images); 20. A class in flower arranging (Courtesy of Martine Frost); 21. The wedding of the Duchess of Gloucester (Getty Images); 22. Helen Kirkpatrick (The Estate of Vita Marr); 23. Drawing of Connie in her garden by Lesley Blanch (Copyright © the Estate of Lesley Blanch, reproduced by arrangement); 24. Coolings Gallery in wartime (Courtesy of The Times Newspapers); 25. Floral decoration society meeting in Dorchester (Getty Images); 26. Connie judging at Dorchester (Getty Images); 27. Adding the finishing touches at Lancaster House (Getty Images); 28. Inspecting the floral decorations on the Coronation route (GettyImages); 29. A green table decoration (Courtesy Martine Frost); 30. Chrysanthemums with brown leaves (Courtesy Martine Frost); 31. Connie and Sheila McQueen in Brisbane (The Estate of Vita Marr); 32. Connie and Gilbert Harding (The Estate of Vita Marr); 33. Connie sewing (Getty Images); 34. A formal photograph of Connie (The Estate of Vita Marr); 35. The ‘Bridal Rose’ and lily of the valley (Courtesy Martine Frost).
Endpapers and drawings decorating chapter headings by Lesley Blanch, originally published in Connie’s 1944 book, Come Into the Garden, Cook, copyright © the Estate of Lesley Blanch, reproduced by arrangement.
1. Connie aged about five.
2. Connie aged about sixteen.
3. Connie (far left) and her father, George Fletcher, (fourth from left) with the Phoenix Caravan in Dublin in 1909. Lord and Lady Aberdeen can be seen in front of the horse.
4. Connie’s engagement photo, 1910.
5. James Heppell Marr standing by the donkey and cart he bought for his children, Joan and Tony, together with their Cook cousins in Yorkshire, 1925.
6. Syrie Maugham at a luncheon party in 1936.
7. Shav Spry in the garden at Ard Daraich aged about seventy.
8. Gluck wearing daisies in her lapel in about 1933.
9. An exotic display for Atkinsons’ Perfumery window.
10. ‘Chromatic’ Gluck’s first painting of a Spry arrangement. Connie wrote: ‘It exemplifies the delicacy and the strength, the subtleties and the grandeur of white flowers.’
11. Rosemary Hume with two classic Spry arrangements in about 1935.
12. Val Pirie modelling an unusual bridal bouquet of cabbage leaves, sword-fern, scented geranium, red tulips, red ranunculi, an amaryllis lily, red and green striped parrot tulips and striped red croton leaves.
13. Oliver Messel decorating the Pavilion Room at the Dorchester Hotel.
14. Victor Stiebel surrounded by models at his couture salon in about 1936.
15. Connie looking very sophisticated checking an arrangement of roses in a head-shaped vase for one of Victor Stiebel’s shows.
16. The famous decorative kale leaves that shocked many of her clients.
17. ‘Blackamoor with whitewashed leaves’. A classic Spry/Messel party decoration in the 1930s.
18. The shop and the Modern School of Flower Work in South Audley Street.
19. Staff in the flower shop.
20. A class in flower arranging.
21. Connie did the classic crescent bouquet and church flowers for the wedding of Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott to HRH The Duke of Gloucester in 1935.
22. Connie’s great friend, Helen Kirkpatrick, as a US war correspondent.
23. Lesley Blanch’s drawing of Connie in her wartime kitchen garden.
24. Coolings Gallery, Bond Street, 1939. The sandbags were decked out with Connie’s flowers ‘to cheer people up’.
25. The first meeting of the first floral decoration society in Britain which took place at Dorchester Corn Exchange in June 1950.
26. Connie with Mrs Pope judging at the Dorchester Flower Show .
27. Connie adds the finishing touches – stephanotis flowers – to the table decorations for the Coronation Banquet at Lancaster House, 1953.
28. Connie and Ministry of Works architect, Eric Bedford, inspect huge tubs of poppies made by disabled ex-servicemen to decorate the Coronation route.
29. A green table decoration including rhubarb leaves, marrow flowers, green tomatoes, seed heads, passion flower, figs, peas, poppy head, water lilies, an agapanthus seed head and the fruit of Pyrus japonica.
30. Chrysanthemums with brown leaves and berries that should have ‘gone out with the wheelbarrow’.
31. Connie and Sheila McQueen in Brisbane in March 1959 during their lecture tour in Australia.
32. Connie and Gilbert Harding inspect early spring blossom, 1958.
33. Connie relaxing and doing her tapestry.
34. A very formal photograph of Connie posing in front of some of her favourite vases and one of her rescued Atkinsons’ mirrors.
35. An early favourite of Connie’s; the old-fashioned Niphetos ‘Bridal Rose’ and lily of the valley.
Index
CS indicates Constance Spry
Aberconway, Lord, ref 1
Aberdeen, Lady, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5,ref 6, ref 7, ref 8, ref 9, ref 10, ref 11, ref 12, ref 13, ref 14,ref 15, ref 16, ref 17, ref 18, ref 19, ref 20, ref 21, ref 22
Aberdeen, Lord, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
Abney, Sir William, ref 1, ref 2
acanthus ref 1, ref 2
Alchemilla mollis, ref 1
Aldenham Court, Hertfordshire, ref 1
Alexandra College for Girls, Milltown,
Ireland, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
amaryllis, ref 1, re
f 2, ref 3
amethyst thistle, ref 1
Amster, James, ref 1
Anemone alpina, ref 1
anemones, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
anthurium, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6
Ard Daraich (cottage), Scotland, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
ARP (Air Raid Precautions), ref 1
Art Deco, ref 1
Art Nouveau, ref 1, ref 2
artichoke, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
artificial flowers, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
Arts and Crafts movement, ref 1, ref 2
arum, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8
Ashton, Frederick, ref 1
asparagus, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
aspidistra, ref 1, ref 2
Asquith, Violet, ref 1
Assembly Rooms, Norwich, ref 1
astilbe, ref 1
Atkinsons’ Perfumery, London, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8, ref 9, ref 10, ref 11, ref 12, ref 13, ref 14
Au Petit Cordon Bleu restaurant, London, ref 1, ref 2
aubrietia, ref 1
auricula, ref 1
Auriol, Vincent, ref 1
Australia, CS lecture tour of, ref 1
Australian Garden Society, ref 1
Auton, Gerard (pseudonym of Aleister Crowley,), ref 1
azalea, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6
Balanchine, George, ref 1
Baldwin, Stanley, ref 1, ref 2
Ballets Russes, ref 1
Barker, Effie, ref 1, ref 2
Barnardo, Dr Thomas, ref 1
Barnett, Isobel, ref 1
Barrett, Dr Kate, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Barton, Griselda, ref 1, ref 2
Battersby, Martin, ref 1
BBC, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
Beaton, Cecil, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5,ref 6, ref 7, ref 8, ref 9, ref 10, ref 11, ref 12
Beaton, Nancy, ref 1
Bedaux, Charles and Fern, ref 1, ref 2
Bedford, Eric, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
Beecham, Sir Thomas, ref 1
Beerbohm, Max, ref 1
Beeton, Isabella, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
begonia, ref 1
Bennett, Arnold, ref 1, ref 2
Bérard, Christian, ref 1, ref 2
bergamot, ref 1
Bernstein, Sidney, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8, ref 9, ref 10, ref 11
Billericay, Essex, ref 1
Blair, Sir Robert, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8
Blanch, Lesley, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
Bliss, Arthur, ref 1
Blitz, London, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
bluebells, ref 1
Book of Household Management (Beeton), ref 1
Botanic Garden, Dublin, ref 1, ref 2
Boudin, Stéphane, ref 1
bougainvillea, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Boulestin, Marcel, ref 1
Bowles, Hamish, ref 1
Bowles, Paul, ref 1
Brains Trust, The, ref 1
British Red Cross Society (BRCS), ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6
Broadlands, Hampshire, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
Brompton Oratory, ref 1
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, ref 1
Brooks, Romaine, ref 1
Buckhingham, Dora, ref 1, ref 2
buddleia, ref 1
cabbage leaves, ref 1, ref 2,
camellia, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8, ref 9, ref 10
carnations, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8, ref 9, ref 10, ref 11, ref 12
Carter, Lady Violet Bonham, ref 1, ref 2
ceanothus, ref 1
cerastium , ref 1
Channon, Henry ‘Chips’, ref 1
Château de Candé, France, ref 1
Chelsea Flower Show, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7
Chinese lantern, ref 1
chrysanthemum, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8
church decorating, ref 1, ref 2,ref 3 see also weddings
Churchill, Clementine, ref 1, ref 2
Churchill, Winston, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3,ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7
Claridge’s Hotel, London, ref 1, ref 2
clematis, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8, ref 9
Clements, Julia, ref 1
Cobham Hall, Kent, ref 1
Cochran, Charles B. ‘Cocky’, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6
Cocteau, Jean, ref 1, ref 2
Colefax, Lady Sybil, ref 1, ref 2
Colney Park, Hertfordshire, ref 1, ref 2,ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6
Colville, ‘Jock’, ref 1
Colvin, Brenda, ref 1
Come into the Garden, Cook (Spry), ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Conran, Sir Terence, ref 1, ref 2
Constance Spry Cookery Book, The (Spry/Hume), ref 1, ref 2
Constance Spry Flower School, CurzonStreet, London, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3 later renamed The Modern Schoolof Flower Work, London, ref 4, ref 5 see also Cordon Bleu Cookery andFlower School, London
Constance Spry Inc., New York,ref 1
Constance Spry Ltd, London, ref 1,ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6
shop renamed, ref 1
after CS’s death, ref 1
Elizabeth II Coronation commission,ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
prices, ref 1
royal commissions, ref 1, ref 2
staff, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6
tips, ref 1
visiting clients, ref 1
wartime 1939-45, ref 1, ref 2
weddings, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
see also Flower Decorations and Constance Spry Inc.
Cook, Jos, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
Coolhurst, Sussex, ref 1
Coolings Art Gallery, Bond Street, ref 1
Cooper, Duff, ref 1, ref 2
Cooper, Lady Diana, ref 1, ref 2
Cordon Bleu Cookery and Constance
Spry Flower Schools, combined,
ref 1, ref 2
Cordon Bleu Cookery School, London,
ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6,
ref 7, ref 8
Cordon Bleu Cookery School, Paris,
ref 1, ref 2
Coronation Chicken, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Coronation of Elizabeth II, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
in context of the Commonwealth, flowers from, commonwealth stand, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8
corsages, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5,
ref 6
Country Fair Magazine, ref 1
Country Housewife’s Handbooks, ref 1
Country Life Magazine, ref 1
Covent Garden, London, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7
Coward, Noël, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
cow-parsley, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Crowe, Sylvia, ref 1
Cullen, Lily, ref 1, ref 2
Cunard, Lady Emerald, ref 1, ref 2
cut flowers, treatment of, ref 1,
methods to ensure long vase-life, ref 1
Cyclax, ref 1
Dadaists, ref 1
daffodil, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
dahlia, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7
daisies, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
Dali, Salvador, ref 1
Darley, Lord, ref 1
datura, ref 1
David Jones Ltd Australia, ref 1
Dawson, Lady, ref 1
Dawson, Lord, ref 1
day-continuation schools, ref 1, ref 2
Decaisnea fargesii, ref 1
debutantes, ref 1
defoliating flowers, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8, ref 9
delphinium, ref , ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7
Depression, ref 1, ref
2, ref 3, ref 4
Derby Photographic Society, ref 1
Derby Technical School, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Derby, Lord, ref 1
Desart, Lady, ref 1
Design Museum of London: Constance
Spry Exhibition, 2004, ref 1, ref 1
Diaghilev ballet company, ref 1, ref 2
Dickie, Christine, ref 1, ref 2
Dickins, Scrase, ref 1
Dickinson, Page, ref 1
Dig for Victory campaign, ref 1
Display Centre, Regent Street, London, ref 1
distressed furniture, ref 1, ref 2
dog daisies, ref 1
Dorchester Floral Decoration Society, ref 1
Dorn, Marion, ref 1
Downes, Muriel, ref 1
Drage’s, London, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
Drew, Ruth, ref 1
dried flowers, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6
dyed statice, ref 1
Dyson, George, ref 1
Earle, C. W., ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
Easter Rising, Ireland 1916, ref 1, ref 2
Eastern Command Camouflage School, Norwich, ref 1
Easterbrook, Patricia, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
Eccles, David, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8, ref 9, ref 10
Eccles, Sybil, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
Eden, Anthony and Clarissa, ref 1, ref 2
Edinburgh, Duke of, ref 1