Tag Archives: South Africa

How Francis Masson found the world’s oldest pot plant…and a few other things

Posted on 25/06/2016 by The Garden History Blog

“The country is encompassed on all sides with very high mountains, almost perpendicular, consisting of bare rocks, without the last appearance of vegetation; and upon the whole, has a most melancholy effect on the mind.” So wrote Francis Masson … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Anders Sparrman, captain cook, cycad, Dutch, Dutch East India Company, Francis Masson, George III, Holland, Hortus Kewensis, James Lee, Joseph Banks, kew, L'Heritier, Lee & Keneddy, Linnaeus, Oldenburg, plant hunters, pot plants, Royal Society, Scotland, Scottish, South Africa, succulents, Thunberg, William Aiton | Leave a comment

Capability Brown and Africa… did you really say Africa?

Posted on 07/05/2016 by The Garden History Blog

I’ve just returned from a month in southern Africa and was bowled over by the range of plants and landscapes that I encountered in the western Cape and Namibia. I can’t stop enthusing about what I saw but wondered how … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Arcadia, Capability Brown, Cedar of Lebanon, Grand Tour, South Africa | 2 Comments

Joseph Knight & his Exotic Nursery

Posted on 10/10/2015 by The Garden History Blog

We tend to think of gardeners being poor – unless of course they’re celebs on the box – and it’s hard to think of many gardeners in history who became rich. But there are exceptions and one such was Joseph … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged greenhouse, John Claudius Loudon, nurserymen, Paxton, plant hunters, South Africa, vei | 1 Comment

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

Posted on 13/06/2015 by The Garden History Blog

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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Curtis's Botanical Magazine, James Colvill, John Claudius Loudon, John Fraser, kew, nurserymen, plant hunters, Plant theft, South Africa | 3 Comments

The Great Geranium Robbery…

Posted on 06/06/2015 by The Garden History Blog

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 →