GARDEN HISTORY GIRL

Thomas Andrew Knight and the Pomona Herefordiensis

Miss Willmott's daffodils

The botanical illustrations of Elizabeth Twining

'Menabilly': Daphne du Maurier's real Cornish garden

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

‘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

'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

'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

Plate XLV from 'The Herefordshire Pomona’, vol. 2, 1876-1885 “There is no fruit, in temperate climates, so universally esteemed, and so extensively cultivated, nor is there any which is so closely identified with the social habits of the human species as the apple”. Robert Hogg, British Pomology , 1851 Introduction – An interes

‘Iron Winter Garden for T.W. Vernon Wentworth, Esq., Wentworth Castle, Yorkshire. Designed, Erected, and Heated by Crompton & Fawkes, Chelmsford’. Plate 8 from ‘Horticultural Buildings and their Fittings by Crompton & Fawkes, Chelmsford’, 1899 As I've admitted in the past, I'm something of a Victorian glasshouse nerd and, last summer, I finally got the opportunity to visit Wentworth Castle in Yorkshire – the home of the only remaining [known] Crompton & Fawkes glasshouse in

‘Group of Hybrid Iris: 1. Psyche, 2. Charon, 3. Iphigenia'. Coloured plate from a drawing by H.G. Moon, of flowers sent from Haarlem. From 'Flora and Sylva', vol. 3, 1905 This month, I’d like to introduce you to Flora and Sylva a short-lived publication edited, printed and published by William Robinson, who dominated the UK horticultural press for some years with his high circulation titles The Garden and Gardening Illustrated . Flora and Sylva first appeared in April 190

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

The first Conservatory at the White House by Harriet Lane, built in 1857. From 'Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper', tinted by Hall Baglie, 1858 Introduction This month, I'm making one of my occasional forays across 'the pond' to write about the Conservatory and greenhouses at the White House in Washington D.C., the official residence and work-place of Presidents of the United States of America. I came across images of these glasshouses only recently while researching somet

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

Plate I from 'A History of the British Sea-Anemones and Corals' by Philip Henry Gosse, 1860 Introduction If you've read my blog about the Belgian botanical journal, Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe , you may remember that when reviewing the volume for 1858 I was rather surprised to come across several beautiful illustrations of sea creatures under an article titled Les Aquariums Marins-Anemones de Mer or, in English, ' Marine Aquariums-Sea Anemones ', which descri

"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

'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

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

Castlewellan's Head Gardener, Thomas Ryan, in front of the terrace glasshouses c.1880's. By kind permission of the Ogilvie family Introduction When I began to research the story behind Castlewellan, I had no idea I'd find such a wealth of information about the 5th Earl, Hugh Annesley (1831-1908) and his Head Gardener, Thomas Ryan (1851-1910), who laboured together for nearly 40 years to create its wonderful arboretum and expand the existing gardens. As mentioned in Part 1 of

Corsican lemon by Deborah Griscom Passmore, 1899. US Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection Introduction: A lucky...

Profile photograph of Huge Annesley (later the 5th Earl Annesley of Castlewellan) c.1854-55 Introduction This month, I’m writing about a...

'Christmas Cactus', painting by Christian Mollback I was pondering what to write for Christmas, when a friend reminded me that I’d...

From The Glass Flowers collection. Courtesy Harvard University Herbaria Introduction An article in a Hardy Plant Society journal from...

Painting by Heinrich Schlitt, c.1900, Hungarian National Gallery Do you have a gnome in your garden? If you do, you’re in good company!...

'The Garden House'. Plate 37 from 'Warley Garden in Spring and Summer' by Ellen Willmott, 1909 Introduction Anyone that reads my blogs...

Front cover of June 1st, 2022 issue of 'Country Life' Introduction I have to admit to only buying Country Life very occasionally – it’s...

'Gloire de Dijon Roses from a prize photograph by Mr Henry Stevens', from 'The Gardeners' Chronicle', February 10, 1883 After a day’s...

'In the Conservatory' by James Tissot c.1875 I've always been somewhat taken with glasshouses: be it the Palm House at Kew or smaller...

‘Rubens Peale with a Geranium’, painted by his brother, Rembrandt Peale, 1801. National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA – Patrons’...

Rosa 'Ellen Willmott'. Photograph by Eric Timewell. This rose has been delightfully described as “an Audrey Hepburn of a rose, nothing...

Souvenir Exhibition 'Official Guide' to the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910 priced at one shilling. There was also a daily programme...

‘Still Life with Bowl of Citrons’, late 1640's by Italian artist, Giovanna Garzoni This month I'm stepping out of my comfort zone of the...

Front cover of the US ‘Garden Magazine’, March 1922 edition Most of my garden history research topics relate to the UK, and I’ve always...

'Flowers Before Fares' from 'Funny Folks' magazine. Courtesy Dr David Turner on Twitter. In 1884, the Midland Railway company started a...

The first female gardeners at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew wearing their famous bloomers - a somewhat short-lived and controversial...

For December, I’ve indulged myself somewhat by writing a blog containing some of my favourite garden history topics – the horticultural...

'A Summer’s Evening, Penllergare', by John Dillwyn Llewelyn, August 1854. Note the camera on a tripod on the bank and its reflection in...

In the summer of 1741 as a lively dinner hosted by Lord Petre at his Essex estate, Thorndon Hall, neared its conclusion, the guests were...

Mastheads for The Gardeners' Chronicle (1889), The Gardener's Magazine (1867), Country Life (1900) and The Garden (1880) I am a big fan...

Notice photographed in 2011 at the 6 & B Garden in Manhattan's East Village, New York As you can see from this notice, photographed in a...

'Iris Persica (the Persian Iris)' by James Sowerby. Plate 1 from the first issue of 'The Botanical Magazine or Flower-Garden Displayed'...

Detail from ‘A Primrose from England’ by Edward Hopley, 1855 This painting, A Primrose from England, by the artist Edward Hopley was...

The 'first' Chelsea Flower Show

Detail from the front cover of L. Boehmer & Co.’s catalogue for 1899-1900 In this blog, I'm concentrating on one of the earliest of these...

Nature's own shades of colour

A prickly tale: Eryngium giganteum Miss Willmott's Ghost

"and the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles."