The “garden was bright with flowers in full bloom, which shed a sweet odour all around, and had a charming and elegant appearance. Everything within the house and without, seemed to be the perfection of neatness and order. In the garden there was not a weed to be seen, and to judge from some dapper gardening-tools, a basket, and a pair of gloves which were lying in one of the walks, old Mr. Garland had been at work in it that very morning.” –The Old Curiosity Shop, Chapter 22
“He loved all flowers,” Mamie Dickens wrote of her father in an 1884 New York Times article, “but especially bright flowers, and scarlet geraniums were his favourite of all.”
Dickens’s interest in colorful plants means that a visit to the renowned UCSC Arboretum and Botanic Garden is a perfect addition to a week spent discussing his work. But the university’s Arboretum isn’t only about flowers. It includes an Aroma Garden, a Succulent Garden, Australian Gardens, California Native Gardens, South African Gardens, the New Zealand Garden, and more. This year, a tour for Dickens Universe attendees will take place from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on either Tuesday the 22nd or Wednesday the 23rd. More information and a sign-up sheet will be available at the conference. Meanwhile, visit the Arboretum’s website at https://arboretum.ucsc.edu/.
Quote from Mamie Dickens courtesy Jenny Hartley’s Spring, 2018, article in The Dickensian, “Dickens and the Geranium.”