Born Aug. 3, 1878 in Attenborough, England, Percival Alfred was the 4th son and as such was put out to work very early in his life. At the age of 12 Percival was placed to work as a laborer at a private estate working with the estate's master gardener. He stayed there until 1910 at which time he immigrated to Canada at age 32.

Percival served in the Canadian Army during WWI and afterward lived in Toronto with his wife and daughter. Here is where Percival Garden and the memories of his granddaughter begin.

Percival did everything the old fashioned way. He had cold frames, nursery beds, grew apple trees along walls of buildings training their growth along strung wire. He made his own compost from the chickens he kept but diluted it as manure tea. Back then fertilizer was very natural. It was pure manure from where ever he could get it. Yes back then there was only one way to garden and he did it. Manual labor but a true labor of love.

His granddaughter recalls his roses the most, quoting "That man could grow roses like nobody I’ve ever known. He even grafted his own and had many that no one else had. One was Princess (his name for it) that he grew the year I was born. It was the most beautiful white rose and when it bloomed the perfume from it would scent the whole garden. Of all his love of plants, I think it was his roses he loved best."

Percival also grew vegetables, and had many varieties of fruit trees and fruiting shrubs, currants, blueberries, raspberries. Everything he grew was exceptional. During the great depression he fed five families with his vegetables from the garden. His wife was a good mate for him as she could can anything he brought in from the garden.

Percival had one vice that I guess you could call garden related. Fruit wines. He would have crocks fermenting with unknown concoctions in the garden shed in every season. His wife was a member of the Ladies Temperance League in Toronto and as such was always on the lookout for Percival's brews and would dump them all when she found them.

On October 15-16th 1954, Hurricane Hazel dumped 210 millimetres of rain in the Toronto region within 12 hours. Flooding was inevitable: steep slopes along rivers and soil saturated by previous rainfall funneled 90 per cent of the rain directly into rivers and streams. Flows in the Humber River were four times greater than previously recorded. Hurricane Hazel caused the most severe flood in the Toronto area in recorded history. Eighty-one people died and thousands of people were left homeless.

After the hurricane, Percival seemed to lose heart as the flood had totally destroyed everything. The land was there but his garden and home were gone. The house was rebuilt and a few plants were put in but Percival didn’t have the heart to start over. A few years later on Dec. 16, 1958 Percival passed away.

Percival will always be remembered by his granddaughter and hopefully you will remember him too. To help you remember him, I know my grandfather would love me to share his cure for black spot on roses with anyone who loves to garden as much as he did. Pick the bottom leaves off the tomato plants and chop them up, place them in a pot and add some water. Bring to a boil on the stove. When cooled, pour it over the rose bush. I wouldn’t bother growing tomatoes but I do just to have the leaves and to remember my grandfather.