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Who was Constance Spry?
(July 6, 2002 Edition)

The Rose:

This 1961 introduction by David Austin is the rose that started a revolution; the first of the English Roses and parent to many others and as such, instrumental in changing the way much of the world views roses as garden plants.

The Woman:
(From The Penguin Biographical Dictionary of Women, © Market House Books Ltd 1998)

Constance Spry (1886 – 1960) was a perfectionist who sought to bring beauty, good food, and good wines into people's homes.

Born in Derby but brought up and educated in Ireland, Constance Spry did welfare work in London's East End in the 1920s. In 1929 she opened her first florist's shop, and in the 1930s established a school of flower arranging in London's exclusive Mayfair district. Spry's outstanding skill and creativity made her much in demand at the highest social levels; she was responsible for the floral decoration of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on gala evenings and for the flower arrangements at the wedding and coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Constance Spry became joint principal with Rosemary Hume of the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in London and ran a school at Winkfield Place near Windsor, where young women could learn the complete art of cookery and entertaining. Her influence on British taste and lifestyles became wider still through her 13 books on flower arranging, gardening, cookery, and wine.

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