By the time that the nursery reached its first quarter century, Herbert Simmonds was busy producing new plants. The most successful of these was Cotoneaster hybrida pendula which was exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Autumn Show at Olympia in 1933 and at the Crystal Palace in 1934. This small weeping tree is now grown throughout the world and was eventually to be awarded the RHS Award of Merit. Herbert also introduced Helenium Chipperfield Orange and a collection of Michaelmas Daisies including Aster Jean and Aster Blue Baby. A new house was built in front of the nursery. The lounge became the office and the main bedroom became the seed store. Another room became the shop where fruit and vegetables grown in the nursery could be purchased. Seeds were weighed in the shop and packeted having arrived in bulk in sacks and bags. Small seeds were sold by the ounce, half-ounce, and quarter-ounce, and large seeds such as peas and beans were sold by the pint and half-pint. Seed potatoes were sold by the bushel. Few items were pre-packed. Fertilizers were stored in a shed in hundredweight sacks (about 50 kilos) and were weighed out in small paper bags to customers’ requirements. Bales of peat were so big that it took two strong men to lift them. Flower pots were all made by hand in the many potteries which existed at the time and delivered to the nursery by the lorry load. One of the largest potteries was in Tottenham. Chemicals such as Sulphur dust were weighed out from sacks, but sprays such as Arsenate of Lead were sold in sealed containers and customers would have to sign the poisons book before they could use them. Seed boxes were made of pieces of wood which were nailed together in one of the many sheds which fronted Pest House Lane. Herbert sowed the seeds, took cuttings, watered the plants and also did floral arrangements and bouquets. He was a Deacon at Chipperfield Baptist Church where he was Sunday School Superintendent and frequently walked to Sarratt to preach at the Mission Hall on a Sunday evening. He also was a bee-keeper and the honey produced was sold in the shop. He was a keen astronomer and spent hours looking at the stars with his telescope. In the evenings he would play his concertina and play the game of draughts in the kitchen with friends. Jim Simmonds became the organist at Chipperfield Baptist Church. In 1925 he met Mimie Williams when her family moved into Scatterdells Lane and on 21 April 1934 they were married. Their first son, Terry, was born the following year.
Terry Simmonds