To me it had all the romance of something from outer space. Nothing of its sort has ever been seen in the country before. вЂњYesterday I held in my hands the most sensational plant in Britain. 66 Beverley Nichols, EnglandвЂ™s вЂbeloved gardenerвЂ™ and prolific garden writer, came to call: Its portrait was commissioned and put on display at the Walker Galleries in London. Within days there were interviews and television appearances, AP reporters in the driveway and sightseers peering into the glasshouse to get a look at the plant. The вЂMuriel HoworthвЂ™ peanut (she quickly named it after herself) germinated in four days and was soon two feet high. Disappointed after her party, she decided to вЂњpop an irradiated peanut in the sandy loam to see how this mutant grewвЂќ. Sadly, MurielвЂ™s dinner guests did not вЂseem to appreciate that the nut was. I organized an ATOMIC GARDENING SOCIETY to co-ordinate and safeguard the interests of ATOMIC MUTATION EXPERIMENTERS who would work as one body to help scientists produce more food more quickly for more people, and progress horticultural mutation.вЂќ вЂ“ Atomic Gardening for the Layman, 1960 вЂњI now felt that by some stroke of luck which is difficult to ascribe to chance, I had been given the opportunity-so much longed for-to bring science right into the homes of the people.

Atomic society one town hall