Nymans forms one of a group of gardens in the Sussex Weald which were created before the First World War and are still beautiful today. Their owners shared a passion for the great wealth of new material brought back from the far corners of the world by intrepid plant hunters and their gardens were used as showcases for these discoveries. Between the wars, a second generation continued to enlarge the collections, exhibiting new plants, both species and hybrids, at shows organized by the Royal Horticultural Society in London.
This is the story of one family's involvement in an important chapter of garden history. Ludwig Messel bought Nymans in 1890 and, with his head gardener, James Comber, began extensive planting of exotics, determined to prove that many supposedly tender plants could grow outdoors in Sussex. After 1915 his son, Leonard, carried on planting and raising new hybrids, bringing the riches of the collection to public notice. He bequeathed the garden to the National Trust in 1954 and Anne, Countess of Rosse, Ludwig Messel's granddaughter, was appointed director. Today, another of Ludwig's descendants, his great-grandson, Alastair Buchanan, has taken over as family representative and continues to assist the National Trust in planning the future of this historic garden.
In addition to the story of Nymans itself, the book describes associated gardens and gardeners in Sussex: Edmund Loder at Leonardslee, William Robinson at Gravetye, Frederick Godman at South Lodge, Gerald Loder at Wakehurst Place, Giles Loder at The High Beeches, Johnny Millais at Compton's Brow, Stevenson Clarke at Borde Hill and Arthur Soames at Sheffield Park. It also includes sixteen pages of colour plates showing Nymans today, and paintings of the plants and species which have been developed and raised there, together with a selection of old photographs that reflect the garden's development over the past one hundred years.
