GARDEN HISTORY GIRL

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...

'The Mistletoe Seller', by Myles Birket Foster from 'The London Illustrated News', 1854 As I now live in Herefordshire, surrounded by...

'Lily Pool', Plate 16 from Ellen Willmott's book of her own photographs titled 'Warley Garden in Spring and Summer', published 1909 Those...

Plate XLV from 'The Herefordshire Pomona’, vol. 2, 1876-1885 “There is no fruit, in temperate climates, so universally esteemed, and so...

‘Iron Winter Garden for T.W. Vernon Wentworth, Esq., Wentworth Castle, Yorkshire. Designed, Erected, and Heated by Crompton & Fawkes,...

‘Group of Hybrid Iris: 1. Psyche, 2. Charon, 3. Iphigenia'. Coloured plate from a drawing by H.G. Moon, of flowers sent from Haarlem. ...

Selection of plants offered for sale in a Veitch catalogue of the 1890's Introduction During the 19th century, plant collecting in new...

The first Conservatory at the White House by Harriet Lane, built in 1857. From 'Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper', tinted by Hall...

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...

"Embothrium Coccineum". From 'Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l’Europe', Vol.13, 1858 Introduction Many of the historic images of...

'Garcinia mangostana' (the mangosteen), watercolour by Deborah Griscom Passmore, 1909 – said to be agricultural explorer David...

One of Miss Ellen Willmott's few existing 'autochromes' c.1908. The plant featured was identified recently by experts at Royal Botanic...

Castlewellan's Head Gardener, Thomas Ryan, in front of the terrace glasshouses c.1880's. By kind permission of the Ogilvie family...

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!...