Tag Archives: plant hunters

Killerton

Earlier this year I went on a nostalgia trip back to Exeter where I was at college. One of the places I wanted to see again was Killerton, the home of my tutor Sir Richard Acland. Apart from being an extraordinarily inspiring … Continue reading

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The Great Geranium Robbery… part 2…and other plant thefts

This post is a continuation of last week’s, and is the  second half of the account of the trial of Charles Fairfield  in 1795 on charges of the theft of rare plants from Daniel Grimwood’s nursery in Kensington…. and then I’ve also  taken … Continue reading

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The Great Geranium Robbery…

It’s not everyday that plant theft gets prosecuted or even really hits the headlines. BUT in 1795 there was a fascinating case that reached the Old Bailey and pitted a leading London nurseryman who dealt in exotic new imports against a … Continue reading

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Dyffryn

I’m always a bit suspicious when people use superlatives to describe something. It’s never usually quite as good as they make out. So initially that was my reaction when I started to hear/read about Dyffryn Gardens, near Cardiff.   Just … Continue reading

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Tiglath-Pileser I & the passion he shared with William Robinson

It’s not every day that an exotically multi-syllabled king of ancient Assyria gets mentioned in the context of Brtain’s historic parks and gardens.  But I was writing a  lecture about  early plant hunting and decided to start with evidence from antiquity when … Continue reading

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