Obituary: Chris Philip

As the former owner of Lakeside, the property bought in 1983 by Chris Philip and Denys Gueroult, I would like to correct the impression given by Michael Leapman [obituary of Chris Philip, 11 February], that the "previous owner was a daffodil collector who had dug up all his bulbs, leaving the garden a barren waste", writes Michael Jefferson-Brown.

I was at the time a commercial daffodil breeder and grew all my stock a mile or two away from the garden. Not a single bulb or plant was dug up out of the garden before or at the time of the sale. We were delighted to hand over the garden to Chris and Denys, who were both obviously going to enjoy and develop it.

To suggest that we left it "a barren waste" is the opposite of the truth; once or twice Denys and Chris contacted us after they moved into Lakeside to say they were contemplating certain plantings and works in the garden and hoped my wife and I would not mind - a human and pleasing touch from two people who from our first meeting became our very good friends.