The exciting story of how we got some of our classic garden plants !
The famous Exeter based Veitch Nurseries (now St Bridget's) are quite familiar to many of us, but the story of this influential local family and the plant collectors they sent all over the world, will be told in the Parish Hall on 20 March at 7.30 pm. The topic is ‘Victorian Plant Collectors’. We are fortunate to have Caradoc Doy as the speaker. Caradoc is a gardening consultant with wide experience and an expert on the Veitch Nurseries, and a 'google' search will give a taster of his knowledge.
The History Group, the Gardening Club and the Friends of Newton Arboretum join forces for this special evening, when Caradoc will share with us some fascinating stories from these expeditions.
The Veitch Nurseries carried out 23 plant collections overseas over a 72-year period. They resulted in the introduction of many new species into British horticulture, several of which have the botanical name ‘...veitchii’. Caradoc re-published in 2006 the classical book ‘Hortus Veitchii’, 100 years after it was first published by the Veitch family. Our Arboretum benefits from several species introduced by the Veitch’s. Sir Harry Veitch was heavily involved in setting up the first Chelsea Flower Show and Caradoc organised an exhibit on the importance of the work of Sir Harry Veitch at the Centenary Show in 2013.
This promises to be a very interesting and stimulating evening for gardeners, historians and all who walk in the arboretum.
All are welcome. There is a charge of £2 to include tea and biscuits.
Is there somewhere you can put up this poster?