Hi All

I'm asking this on behalf of a friend who is engaged in an art project and
she would like to know what plants would have appeared in Victorian public
parks - well actually in one particular public park (Peel Park in Salford,
opened in 1846). From what I can see the Victorians were keen on colourful
borders but some of you out there might know a lot more and could name a few
plants.

I'll forward replies on to her (she uses e-mail but doesn't know anything
about newsgroups and URG).

TIA

Howard

On 27/3/07 18:37, in article ,
"Howard Haigh" wrote:

Hi All

I'm asking this on behalf of a friend who is engaged in an art project and
she would like to know what plants would have appeared in Victorian public
parks - well actually in one particular public park (Peel Park in Salford,
opened in 1846). From what I can see the Victorians were keen on colourful
borders but some of you out there might know a lot more and could name a few
plants.

I'll forward replies on to her (she uses e-mail but doesn't know anything
about newsgroups and URG).

I'd suggest she contacts Kew, as well as this group. And are there no
public records/photographs etc of the period? They might not have written
down what they planted but there might be photographs. She could get the
people of Salford involved in hunting through their family snapshots and
make it a communal interest project. ;-)
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)

On Mar 27, 6:37 pm, "Howard Haigh" hh001c7439@$NOSPAMPLEASE
$blueyonder.co.uk wrote:
Hi All

I'm asking this on behalf of a friend who is engaged in an art project and
she would like to know what plants would have appeared in Victorian public
parks - well actually in one particular public park (Peel Park in Salford,
opened in 1846). From what I can see the Victorians were keen on colourful
borders but some of you out there might know a lot more and could name a few
plants.

I'll forward replies on to her (she uses e-mail but doesn't know anything
about newsgroups and URG).

TIA

Howard

Howard, try Googling on the Victorian Garden at Norwich. I have
worked on the project, now complete, where an original Victorian
garden, with a folly, was discovered under years and years of leaf
mould. It is a great garden and open to the public.

Judith

On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:37:45 GMT, "Howard Haigh"
wrote:

Hi All

I'm asking this on behalf of a friend who is engaged in an art project and
she would like to know what plants would have appeared in Victorian public
parks - well actually in one particular public park (Peel Park in Salford,
opened in 1846). From what I can see the Victorians were keen on colourful
borders but some of you out there might know a lot more and could name a few
plants.

I'll forward replies on to her (she uses e-mail but doesn't know anything
about newsgroups and URG).

TIA

Howard



http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/desig...ctorian3.shtml

Victorian characters
The plant hunters
Records of plant hunting date back to 1495BC when Queen Hatshetsup
sent botanists out to Somalia to collect incense trees. But the
Victorian period was the golden era of plant collecting. There was a
desire for exploration and discovery and Victorian plant hunters were
botanical adventurers who risked life and limb to bring back exotic
plants from around the world.

Many of them died on their travels, but their legacy lives on in the
plants that many of us now consider to be part of the quintessential
British landscape.

William and Thomas Lobb
Cornish brothers William and Thomas Lobb were two of the most
prominent and prolific Victorian plant hunters, working alongside the
famous British plant nursery Veitch & Sons.

William introduced many species from North and South America,
including famous plants such as the monkey puzzle tree and
wellingtonia. Thomas travelled East and collected plants from
Indonesia, India and the Philippines.

George Forrest (1873 to 1932)
George Forrest travelled mainly to China, Tibet and Burma. He was
responsible for introducing about 600 species of plants, 300 of which
were rhododendrons. He also brought back camellias, magnolias,
Himalayan poppies and primulas.

Joseph Hooker (1817 to 1911)
Joseph Hooker, William Hooker's son, brought back more than 28 new
species of rhododendrons from his expeditions to the Himalaya in 1848
and 1851. The craze for rhododendrons soon swept the UK. Hooker was a
close friend of Charles Darwin and eventually became director of the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Robert Fortune (1812 to 1880)
Robert Fortune began his botanical career at the Royal Botanic
Gardens, Edinburgh. He later became deputy superintendent of the
Horticultural Society (later to become the Royal Horticultural
Society) at Chiswick. In 1843 he was commissioned by the society to
travel to China to collect plants. After travelling extensively
through China and Japan, he introduced more than 120 species to
English gardens.

Fortune's overseas adventures included investigations into the
commercial opportunities in growing tea. Commissioned by the British
East India Company, he disguised himself as a Chinese peasant as he
smuggled out cuttings of the tea plant Camellia sinensis from China
into India. These cuttings enabled India and Ceylon to become
established as major growers and exporters of tea.

Plants Robert Fortune introduced include: Trachycarpus fortunei,
Dicentra spectabilisMahonia japonica, Jasminum nudiflorum and Skimmia
japonica

William Andrew Nesfield (1793 to 1881)
William Nesfield was born in 1793. He graduated from Trinity College,
Cambridge and enlisted in the army in 1809, fighting in Spain and
Canada. He retired on half pay in 1816 and dedicated himself to
painting watercolours between 1823 and 1843.

In the later half of his life, Nesfield's passion changed to landscape
gardening.

Drawing upon pre-18th-century garden styles, he gained a reputation
for elaborate designs. His style often combined using elaborate
parterres with modern plants.

He worked on Regent's Park, St James's Park, The Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew, Grimston Park, Holkham Hall, Broughton Hall and Witley
Court.

Sir Joseph Paxton (1803 to 1865)
Paxton was probably the most famous of the Victorian gardeners. The
son of a farmer with only a very basic education, Paxton eventually
became responsible for the gardens at Chatsworth House owned by the
Duke of Devonshire.

Paxton designed the new conservatory at Chatsworth which was built to
a distinctive ridge and furrow pattern and later the Crystal Palace in
London, for which he was knighted by Queen Victoria. He eventually
became a millionaire because of commercial investments, such as
selling small greenhouses to amateur gardeners.

John Claudius Loudon (1783 to 1843)
John Loudon was a major influence on gardens and gardening during his
lifetime. One of the key gardens he designed - Birmingham Botanic
Gardens - became synonymous with the Gardenesque movement.

A prolific writer, it's estimated that Loudon wrote more than 66
million words in his lifetime. In The Gardener's Magazine he enthused
and educated the newly prosperous middle classes with gardening tips
and advice.

Loudon was a great campaigner and fought hard for better pay and
conditions for gardeners. He also came up with the idea for a green
belt around cities which he called 'breathing zones'. His efforts
transformed middle class gardens around Britain.


--


Avoid the rush at the last judgement. Be converted now instead!




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This will not help you with flower borders, but a 100+ year old map drawn at
6 inches to the mile by the Ordnance Survey would show the trees fairly
accurately (I've even seen a tree stump identified as such in a field on one
map) besides being fascinating: so go to http://www.old-maps.co.uk/ and
download a free map of Salford (but you did not say which one!).

Everybody who reads this will enjoy wandering around

Geoff

Sacha wrote:
On 27/3/07 18:37, in article
, "Howard Haigh"
wrote:

Hi All

I'm asking this on behalf of a friend who is engaged in an art
project and she would like to know what plants would have appeared
in Victorian public parks - well actually in one particular public
park (Peel Park in Salford, opened in 1846). From what I can see the
Victorians were keen on colourful borders but some of you out there
might know a lot more and could name a few plants.

I'll forward replies on to her (she uses e-mail but doesn't know
anything about newsgroups and URG).

I'd suggest she contacts Kew, as well as this group. And are there no
public records/photographs etc of the period? They might not have
written down what they planted but there might be photographs. She
could get the people of Salford involved in hunting through their
family snapshots and make it a communal interest project. ;-)

Yes. And it would be worth going to the council parks department:
detailed records would certainly have been kept at the time, and may
have been preserved in the council archive.

--
Mike.



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

In message , Geoff
writes
This will not help you with flower borders, but a 100+ year old map drawn at
6 inches to the mile by the Ordnance Survey would show the trees fairly
accurately (I've even seen a tree stump identified as such in a field on one
map) besides being fascinating: so go to http://www.old-maps.co.uk/ and
download a free map of Salford (but you did not say which one!).

Everybody who reads this will enjoy wandering around

Geoff


You're right! Fascinating maps!

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

In article , Sacha
writes


I'd suggest she contacts Kew, as well as this group.

I suggest Waddesdon Manor which was and still is well known for giant
bedding schemes etc.

Janet

--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On 27/3/07 23:24, in article , "Janet Tweedy"
wrote:

In article , Sacha
writes


I'd suggest she contacts Kew, as well as this group.

I suggest Waddesdon Manor which was and still is well known for giant
bedding schemes etc.


Some very good ideas here, I'd say. This could turn into rather a fine
'local interest' project, involving families whose ancestors lived there at
the time, locaL archives, newspaper photos etc. I hope we'll learn of the
outcome on here because it seems to be a fascinating subject.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)

"Howard Haigh" wrote in message
. ..
Hi All

I'm asking this on behalf of a friend who is engaged in an art project and
she would like to know what plants would have appeared in Victorian public
parks - well actually in one particular public park (Peel Park in Salford,
opened in 1846). From what I can see the Victorians were keen on colourful
borders but some of you out there might know a lot more and could name a
few
plants.

I'll forward replies on to her (she uses e-mail but doesn't know anything
about newsgroups and URG).

TIA

Howard


I once owned a private garden which was remodelled around 1850.
So 150 years latter there were the obvious remnants of grand design but none
more noticeable than Bamboo (Sasa) and Japanese knotweed.!!
The more charming plants of that era were well gone
Anything with vibrant colour to alleviate
the dull drab Vicky era was in fashion, such as Cana.
Think bold and big colour or leaf and that would be the fashion.
Two world wars and a different urgency rather side tracked garden design.
The best of British and please let us know what you find out about plants in
those times

On 27 Mar, 18:37, "Howard Haigh" hh001c7439@$NOSPAMPLEASE
$blueyonder.co.uk wrote:

(Peel Park in Salford,

Hello Howard. I'm based in Manchester ;o)

The victorians loved rhododendrons, primulas, himalayan poppies,
roses, magnolias, camelias, jasmin, cannas, salvia, skimmias,
geraniums, lobellias, lots of ferns, exotic fruits and trees (like the
Monkey puzzle tree) and large leaves plants like Fatsia.

Check with Tatoon park which is in Manchester and therefore same
climate as Peel park, which would give you ideas of what they
planted.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/tatton/2006/ex...s/cheshire.asp

Check also this list of birds and plants on the nature trail in Peel
Park (all plants were there during the victorians though they were not
considered 'show' plants). Great place to cycle too.

http://www.els.salford.ac.uk/urbanna...loads/Peel.pdf

Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:


I once owned a private garden which was remodelled around 1850.
So 150 years latter there were the obvious remnants of grand design
but none more noticeable than Bamboo (Sasa) and Japanese knotweed.!!
The more charming plants of that era were well gone
Anything with vibrant colour to alleviate
the dull drab Vicky era was in fashion, such as Cana.
Think bold and big colour or leaf and that would be the fashion.
Two world wars and a different urgency rather side tracked garden
design. The best of British and please let us know what you find out
about plants in those times

Try looking at:

http://www.bradford.ac.uk/admin/cont....php3/LED5512D

a course on:
The Victorian Garden and Public Park
Despite large-scale industrial and social expansion in the nineteenth
century, many gardens and parks were created. This module will look at a
number of aspects of Victorian gardens in Yorkshire including public parks,
villa gardens and the growth of a gardening industry to cater for the needs
of a new urban society. This module includes one field trip.



The lecturer is likely to be a good source of info.



pk

Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic and knowledgeable replies! Looks like I
might have sparked off quite a discussion here! I must have a bit of the
Victorian in me as I have a couple of aspidistras in the lounge, ever
multiplying rubber plants and dracenae dotted about the house and ferns and
a fatsia were planted in my back garden last year!

I will try to feed back what I can about my friend's art project when it's
completed.

Howard

On 28/3/07 21:47, in article ,
"Howard Haigh" wrote:

Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic and knowledgeable replies! Looks like I
might have sparked off quite a discussion here! I must have a bit of the
Victorian in me as I have a couple of aspidistras in the lounge, ever
multiplying rubber plants and dracenae dotted about the house and ferns and
a fatsia were planted in my back garden last year!

I will try to feed back what I can about my friend's art project when it's
completed.

I think you have indeed sparked off a discussion. This is gardening
history, after all. It sounds extremely interesting and as I said before, I
do hope we'll hear more about the finished project.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)

In article , Sacha
writes

Some very good ideas here, I'd say. This could turn into rather a fine
'local interest' project, involving families whose ancestors lived there at
the time, locaL archives, newspaper photos etc. I hope we'll learn of the
outcome on here because it seems to be a fascinating subject.


Many TV gardeners started by creating the massed bedding schemes that
used to be in most parks. I am fairly sure Alan Titchmarsh said he used
to pot up thousands of small bedding plants as did that 'cockney'
presenter Phil something or other.

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk