num_pages: 128
description: Reginald Farrar, born in 1880, suffered from a cleft palate and though undergoing various treatments, was never cured, making much of his speech unintelligible, his voice resembling 'a shallow screech, like wind through cracked metal'. As his condition prevented him from going to school, he spend a solitary childhood scrambling the Yorkshire cliffs, collecting the delicate alpines which grew there. He soon learnt their names, and by the age of 13 had published a report in a scientific journal. Eventually, he went to Oxford, hoping to become a novelist, but instead developed his love of botany, later writing books which almost single-handedly brought gardening to the masses; before, it had been the preserve of the rich. Farrar only lived for 40 years, yet in that time he introduced many new species garnered from plant expeditions to the Far East, and 'put a rockery in every backyard.'
language: English
title: A Rage for Rock Gardening
titlecomplete: A Rage for Rock Gardening
genres: Biography, Nature, History, Gardening, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 39
publisher: Short Books