There was also a tremendous growth in gardens over the century. Thomas speaks of the "Gardening Revolution" taking place in the 17 and 18th C.
The professional nurseryman emergesIn 1690s there were 15 nurseries in the London area, the largest the Brompton Park nursery, with about 10 million plants in 1705. Trade began in London but spread to the provinces; and the English bought also from France, the Low countries and elsewhere. |
There was a growth in the parallel profession of gardeners and landscape-improversThey were remunerated roughly at the level of the well-to-do clergymen. One top man was George London (d.1713). Official "surveyor of the royal gardens", he also spent much time acting as consultant to large gentleman's and nobleman's gardens up and down the country. In 1764 a visitor to Thomas Moawe, head gardener to the Duke of Leeds, found him 'so bepowdered and so bedawbed with gold lace' that he thought he was in the presence of the Duke himself.' By 1760 there were about 10 'design-gardeners', about 150 'nobleman's gardeners'; 400 'gentleman's gardeners'; 100 nurserymen; 150 florists; 20 botanists and 200 market gardeners. |
Gardening books multiplied tooOf new titles on botany and horticulture there were
|
|
|
Medieval |
Imports: 16th Century |
17th Century |
18th Century |
|
lilies
|
hyacinths
|
lupins
|
dahlias
|
|
gillyflowers
|
anemones
|
phlox
|
chrysanthemums
|
|
cowslips
|
crocuses
|
virginia creeper
|
fuchsia
|
|
marigolds
|
tulips
|
golden rod
|
sweet peas
|
|
violets
|
michaelmas daisies
|
||
|
roses
|
Luxury books of flower illustrations began to appear, presenting pictures of plants not for identification purposes (in medicine) but for their beauty ... The hanoverian period heyday.
There was a vast influx of flowers and shrubs from abroad.
During the 17th C a good number of plant introductions for industrial and commercial uses had been made: madder, hops, saffron, woad, flax, hemp. Potatoes, red peppers artichokes came in as alternative fruit or vegetables for the table, and the medicine chest was also strongly augmented.
But there were an increasing number of introductions for ornamental purposes. Again, the process accelerated throughout the 17th and 18th Centuries - it was not a specifically 18th C phenomenon.
Over the whole 'early modern' period the figure for cultivated plants went up from 200 in 1500 to 18000 in 1839. Nearly all garden flowers were introduced during this period.
Continuing the 17th Century tradition of collecting sponsored by aristocrats, the 8th Lord Petre, d.1742, assembled over 219000 trees shrubs and plants at Thorndon Hall, Essex. But as the 18th Century developed, the business of collecting fell into the hands of syndicates and professional dealers.
Landscape gardening however became widely practised by the well to-do.
Small-scale domestic flower-gardening established itself as characteristic of English life. Flowers were now grown overwhelmingly for their beauty, though some of the earlier medicinal and symbolic motivation lingered on. There were strong fashions in flowers, and a strong motivation was to emulate the gardens of the socially superior. Generally, fashion sponsored the new and the rare, and this was a fount of breeding innovation. (Cottage gardening was carried much further in England than elsewhere on the continent.)
Many towns established annual or twice-annual flower shows in the 18th C; eg Bristol. Small tradespeople acquired the reputation for the best flower growing, because the larger gardens were cultivated by servants who paid less attention and lavished less care.
VP
Revised 06:06:03