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New furnishings address the stylistic heritage of Hestercombe House and Gardens. Taking up themes of loss and safekeeping underscored by Somerset Fire Service’s recent occupancy, the furnishings embellish parts of the empty house, juxtaposing different expressions of taste. Edwardian gardener Gertrude Jekyll’s reaction to Victorian bedding schemes and her objection to the term ‘flame-coloured’ to describe red flowers — flames are pale yellow and bluish white with ‘no scarlet anywhere’ — provide the spur. A flower-bed-sized block of wallpaper made from an enlargement of the seed packet Salvia Blaze of Fire is contrasted with a series of fresh flower arrangements — individual interpretations of the title-word ‘Flame’. Hanging nearby are prints of Jekyll’s flower arrangements from her 1906 photo-notebooks on loan from The Garden Museum London. Image by kind permission of Mr. Fothergill’s With thanks to Taunton Floral Art Club members: Sheena Page, Margaret Sharpley, Anne Chidgey, Michele Weaver, Sue Hooper, Jan Goodman, Jackie Crouch, Jean Crocker, Liz Mcleish, Angela Tunstall, Joy Garland, Kath Edwards, Maggi Hall, Alma Cuthbert, Cheryl Birkett, Rose Fisher, Margaret Heal, Nicky Heal |