Tomorrow, a new exhibition opens at the Garden Museum in Lon- don. Its title is Constance Spry and the Fashion for Flowers and I am the lucky guest curator of the show. I should immediately lay my cards on the table and confess that this is the first exhibition I have ever curated in my life. In the real world I am a orist, or floral decorator as Spry would have said. In fact, until about two years ago, I could not have told you what curating something actually entailed. Though I certainly could now.
An exhibition celebrating Constance Spry was the brainchild of the Garden Museum’s director, Christopher Wood- ward. He mentioned Spry as a potential topic several years ago, after a talk I’d given about her in the museum, and I immediately seized on the idea. Like most oral folk, I have long been a dev- otee of the inspirational Mrs Spry.
An inspiration to flower folk, Constance Spry is the subject of a new exhibition. Here, guest curator Shane Connolly shares tales of treasures unearthed, memories shared – and sleepless nights
