Plants and Flowers

James Gordon (c.1708-1780): “a most Knowing and Ingenous" gardener, nursery and seedsman

Trade card of 'James Gordon, Seeds Man', c.1770. Gordon’s shop was located at the Sign of the Thistle & Crown near Philpot Lane,...

gardenhistorygirl

Mar 23, 202428 min read

Apple Stories Part 2: The National Apple Congress of 1883

‘Exhibition of apples in the Great Vinery of the Royal Horticultural Society, Chiswick, October 4 to 25, 1883’. From ‘The Gardeners Magazine’, 20 October, 1883 Introduction This post is the second part of my Apple Stories, so I suggest you read Part 1: The Herefordshire Pomona first, as this will then (hopefully) make more sense! This time, I'm looking at an important apple exhibition held by the Royal Horticultural Society following the publication of The Herefordshire Po

gardenhistorygirl

Feb 13, 202411 min read

Mistletoe: a Christmas Friend or Foe?

'The Mistletoe Seller', by Myles Birket Foster from 'The London Illustrated News', 1854 As I now live in Herefordshire, surrounded by apple orchards mostly supplying the local cider industry, it occurred to me to write something during this Christmas and New Year period about mistletoe – which grows high up in trees I can see from my windows. Poplars in this case, although the apple trees in the area drip with bauble-like clumps of this parasitic plant. As there's a huge

gardenhistorygirl

Jan 8, 202411 min read

Miss Willmott's Water Lilies

'Lily Pool', Plate 16 from Ellen Willmott's book of her own photographs titled 'Warley Garden in Spring and Summer', published 1909 Those of us who research and write about the famous gardener, Miss Ellen Willmott (1858-1934), and spend a lot of our free time wondering what her garden at Warley Place in Essex used to be like in its heyday [obviously having nothing better to do...], sometimes overlook the plants she grew aside from her great loves: roses and narcissus. For my

gardenhistorygirl

Nov 27, 202324 min read

The Veitch Nursery: A Family Dynasty c.1808-1969

Selection of plants offered for sale in a Veitch catalogue of the 1890's Introduction During the 19th century, plant collecting in new and exciting areas of the world increased on a grand scale with nurserymen, botanic institutions and private individuals employing collectors to seek out new ornamentals suitable for cultivation in British gardens. One of the greatest, and probably most famous, of the commercial firms was the family-run Veitch nursery established in Devon c.1

gardenhistorygirl

Sep 13, 202311 min read

Castlewellan Part 3: Thomas Ryan - a Head Gardener's Story

The story of the 5th Earl of Castlewellan's Head Gardener, Thomas Ryan

gardenhistorygirl

Aug 6, 202338 min read

A Belgian Botanical: 'Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l’Europe'

"Embothrium Coccineum". From 'Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l’Europe', Vol.13, 1858 Introduction Many of the historic images of tropical or rare plants I use in my blogs are from the celebrated Curtis’s Botanical Magazine , a wonderful resource not only for the botanical plates, but also the information it provides about the plants’ history and introduction into the UK [see Notes ]. More recently however, some of the best images I’ve found have been from a Belgian publ

gardenhistorygirl

Apr 14, 202314 min read

The Fruits of America Part 2: The US Department of Agriculture's 'Agricultural Explorers'

'Garcinia mangostana' (the mangosteen), watercolour by Deborah Griscom Passmore, 1909 – said to be agricultural explorer David Fairchild's favourite fruit. From USDA, Pomological Watercolor Collection This is the follow-on to my blog The Fruits of America Part 1: The US Department of Agriculture's Pomological Watercolor Collection , where I looked at its beautiful, but not particularly well-known, collection of watercolours of fruit and nuts begun in the late 1880's – an ex

gardenhistorygirl

Mar 30, 202313 min read

Miss Willmott's Orchids

One of Miss Ellen Willmott's few existing 'autochromes' c.1908. The plant featured was identified recently by experts at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as the orchid, 'Stanhopea tigrina'. By kind permission of the Berkeley family and the Spetchley Gardens Charitable Trust Introduction This is another of my blogs regarding aspects of Miss Ellen Willmott’s (1858-1934) myriad horticultural activities – and this time I'm writing about some of the orchids she grew in her gardens at W

gardenhistorygirl

Mar 22, 202314 min read