Barbara Barnes, Edna Walling's niece recalls:

...she worked hard to be an independent woman which was a difficult thing to do in those days. She worked hard to establish herself as a professional landscape gardener.

Šshe recognised other people in their own right and expected respect in return. She knew she had a gift but she always acknowledged the Almighty for her gift.

Edna Walling's mother and sister were Christian Scientists. Regarding her Aunt's interest in Christian Science Barbara Barnes says:

She would really rather have liked to have been one but she couldn't quite swallow it. I think she was far too practical, down to earth and matter of fact; in touch with the real world and living things. Numerous Christian Scientists tried to help her to gain faith and to believe in Christian Science, but she never did. She never went to church and she never did this daily reading that they were all meant to do. She was devoted to my mother in a respectful sort of way and my mother was not respectful to her, but treated her as a younger sister. Mum didn't approve of many of the things Edna did, because she smoked and she drank sherry; and smoking and drinking is an absolute no-no to Christian Scientists.

On Lorna Fielden, Barbara comments:

Lorna Fielden was a vital influence in her life and very important in her life. I remember meeting Lorna, she was a school marm, definitely a school marm, and she was a decided spinster. Her children were her school children, she didn't want children of her own, at least I don't think so. She was always very nice to me but in a school marmie way. She must have been one of these great attractions that people had for Aunt and then Aunt responded to the attraction and that kept going throughout their lifetime really, with lots of rows and upsets and arguments along the way.

Lorna came to the Bickleigh Vale village set up and Aunt built a cottage for her. It was a lovely cottage, called Lynton Lee and [Aunt] designed the garden. That relationship was interesting in that Aunt did lots of the heavy physical work for Lorna and Lorna did lots of the domestic things for Aunt like cooking her meals. Aunt was never very terribly interested in cooking or the domestic side of life at all. They always lived apart, they never shared the same roof and that's why perhaps it lasted so much longer than - Gwynnyth for instance - lived at Sonning and they were probably too close.

But Lorna was a cross sort of person but she also had a lovely sense of humour which I've only recently discovered. I never remembered in her own person and I remembered because of a book of poems she wrote, which were delightfully humourous. The poems were about the idiosynchrasies of gardeners. Lorna was a very good gardener herself. Not hugely physically strong or active, but you know, green thumbs and a grower of plants and a lover of them, a lover of her cat, I'm sure she didn't have a dog. And a great respecter of Aunt's creative powers and Aunt was a great respecter of Lorna's intellectual powers especially with words. I reckon that none of the books would have been written except for Lorna's help and patience and encouragement which Aunt always acknowledged all through.