author
Eleanour Sinclair Rohde
A lively early 20th-century garden writer, she helped spark modern interest in herbs, scented planting, and old gardening traditions. Her books mix practical know-how with a real sense of charm and history.
1 Audiobook
The Old English Herbals
by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde
About the author
Born in Alleppey, Travancore, India, on August 9, 1881, she was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College and St Hilda's College, Oxford. After university, she began writing about gardening for magazines including The Field, The Queen, The Cornhill Magazine, and The Garden.
She went on to become a British gardener, garden designer, and horticultural writer, publishing around thirty books between 1913 and 1948. She is especially remembered for The Scented Garden (1931), while other notable titles include A Garden of Herbs, The Old English Herbals, and The Wartime Vegetable Garden.
Much of her life was spent at Cranham Lodge in Reigate, Surrey, where she grew uncommon herbs and vegetables. She also designed gardens, including the herb garden at Lullingstone Castle in Kent, and her work helped encourage the wider revival of herb gardens in Britain.