Long History of Selling Plants
We all know that the story of tulips engraves forever in our memory the idea that the power of money can influence what we plant. At that time, the 1630s, people would pay anything for that most precious tulip. It…
Nineteenth-Century Plant Hunter Introduces Chrysanthemum to England
You may wonder how plants from other cultures made the journey to your garden. Robert Fortune (1812-1880) was an English plant hunter who traveled the world in search of plants for the English garden. Mary and John Gribbin, in their…
From the late 1880s Ads Included More than Just Product Information
After 1880 advertising in newspapers and magazines meant more than simply information about a product for sale. From that time advertising, through its illustrations, sought to motivate the buyer to make a purchase, and even to create a need for the…
A Talk for Your Group
If you are responsible for a speaker for your group's upcoming meeting, why not consider a talk on Victorian flowers? Recently I drove to the north shore of Boston to give a talk to the North Shore Horticultural Society. The…
Art of Gardening Began in England
We know we love certain plants more than others in the garden. Did you ever wonder where the idea of 'garden' came from? Someone had to create it. We know that for centuries cultures relied on herbs for both cooking…