Percy Stephen Cane

Percival Stephen Cane (1881–1976) was an English garden designer and writer.

Biography

Cane was born and educated in Essex, studying horticulture and architecture. He designed scores of gardens over a long and distinguished career, and won frequent medals for his gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show. As a writer, he published four books on gardening, and owned and published two horticulture magazines. His gardens were firmly in the Arts and Crafts style, and he was a particular admirer of Harold Peto's work.

Selected gardens Cane began designing gardens around 1919 and within a decade he had become one of the most sought-after designers of his day. His gardens range from the grounds of the Jubilee Palace of Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa, to a tiny town garden in Taptonville Road, Sheffield. Other commissions included: Caythorpe Court in Lincolnshire for Mrs Elma Yerburgh Ivy House, Hampstead, for Anna Pavlova in 1926 Hungerdown House, Seagry, Wiltshire, 1945–46 Falkland Palace, Fife from 1946 Westfields, Oakley, Bedfordshire, 1953–64 Mellerstain House, Scottish borders

Two gardens wholly or partly designed by Cane in Scotland are designated "of national importance" and are thus included on the Historic Scotland Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes. His work at Falkland Palace in the late 1940s "gives Falkland Palace gardens outstanding value as a Work of Art." The river garden he designed for Monteviot, Jedburgh, in the 1960s contributes to the garden's designation as "outstanding." In addition, the gardens designed by Cane are mentioned in the Statement of Special Interest for the listed building at Ardencraig, Rothesay.

Cane exhibited show gardens at the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show over a number of years, winning eight gold medals (in 1936, 1937, 1938, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1952) and three silver-gilt (1934, 1935 and 1950). In 1963 he was awarded the RHS's Veitch Memorial Medal,

Selected writings Cane published four books on horticulture during his career: Modern Gardens British and Foreign, Special Winter Number of "The Studio", 1926–27, London : The Studio, 1927. Garden design of to-day, London : Methuen, 1934. The Earth Is My Canvas, London : Methuen, 1956. The creative art of garden design, London : Country Life, 1967. He also owned and edited the horticultural magazines My Garden, Illustrated (1918–20) and Garden Design (1930–38).

A full-length biography, Percy Cane, Garden Designer, was written by Ronald Webber and published in 1975.

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