I have belaboured Englishman George
Gordon's The Pinetum (1858) in a past blog, so I realize that
I risk losing readership if I drag his work into attention again. But
in that blog I mentioned that Gordon “revised and fully updated”
the 1858 publication in an 1879 update, and that I would acquire the
newer version to see how it had changed or improved. I did, but alas
many of the old mystakes remain, such as Abies bracteata, for the
second time, being reported as “first discovered by Douglas, on the
mountains along the Columbia River...,” and the continued use of
Wellingtonia for what is now internationally accepted as
Sequoiadendron, and that Abies Pattonii Jeffrey continues to be found
on the “Mount Baker Range in Northern California” when no such
location exists since Mt. Baker is located in northern
Washington...and so on and so forth.

My man Seth was instructed to search
the internet for a copy of Gordon's 2nd edition of 1879,
but what he came up with was not an old hard-cover copy, which
I wanted, but strangely a paperback version of the work (1880) by
Scholar Select which is a crappy, smudged and crooked reprint from a
copy housed at the University of Toronto Library from Apr. 20, 1965.
The damn thing cost $25.00, $24.00 too much, but actually I am glad
to have it. The New Edition is promised as being “Considerably
enlarged, incorporating the former supplement, and including an index
of the popular names of coniferae, English and foreign, to which is
now added An Alphabetical-List of all the coloured plates of the
Genus Pinus published in the great works of Lambert, Lawson, and
Forbes blah blah blah...”

The back cover of the weird book
states, “This work has been selected by scholars as being
culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of
civilization as we know it...” Wow! Furthermore, I am informed
that: “This work is in the public domain” and that I can
copy from it to my heart's content. So, finally I am free from the
guilt of plagiarism, which has been the Flora Wonder Blog's modus
operandi since the beginning.
Ginkgo biloba
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Sciadopitys verticillata |
One aspect of the newer edition's
“Enlargement” was to add an Index of Popular Names,
meaning “common” names. There I learned that Theloo
(Spirituous Liquor) is the common name for Juniperus Squamata [sic],
the “Scaly-leaved Nepaul Juniper,” and Schmucktanne is the
German name for Araucaria. Hak is the “Tree of Life or
Evergreen,” a term applied to all the Arborvitae in China, while
Haken Kiefer is German for the Mugho pine. Yellow Deal
is the common name for Pinus Sylvestris, the “Scotch Fir,” while
White Deal is the Norwegian name for Abies excelsa (Picea
abies), the common “Norway Spruce.” Closer to home, an
American-Indian name I guess, is Sas-coo-pas for the “Big
Tree or Great Fir” for Abies Douglasii, the Douglas Fir
(Pseudotsuga menziesii). Oh, and one more – which I had never
encountered before – is Quachow, deciduous, from China for
Salisburia adiantifolia, the “Maiden-hair Tree” (Ginkgo biloba).
What great fun these common names! Sorry – I can't stop – how
about Quilrblaetterige or Schirm-fichte for Sciadopitys
verticillata? Ok, I'll admit, I've already gotten more than my
money's worth from my $25.00 coniferous paperback reprint.
Following the popular name index are
five catalogs...er, catalogues from prominent nurseries of the
time: 1) Anthony Waterer, Knaphill Nursery, Woking Surrey 2) Richard
Smith, Worcester 3) William Barron & Son, Elvaston Nurseries,
Borrowash, Near Derby 4) Maurice Young, Milford Nurseries, Near
Godalming, Surrey and 5) Lawson Seed and Nursery Company, Edinburgh
and London. If you were the 6th or 7th
prominent nursery in Great Britain and left out of Gordon's book you
would bear the author a strong grudge.

These catalogues are of great interest
to me because they detail the plants being grown about 100 years
before I entered the nursery industry in 1974. The nomenclature has
certainly changed since the yore days, and of course straight
seedlings versus today's preponderance of cultivars were usually the
plants being offered. The price to the right of the plant's listing –
which was explained to me by a bonafide Englishman – represent
shillings (s) and pence (d). One hundred years ago
there were 20 shillings to the pound and 12 pennies to the shilling.
England decimalized in 1971, so today the term shilling is no more,
but the penny was kept, and there are 100 to the pound.


Let's take a look at these nurseries
and see what they were growing. The Woking area was home to nurseries
for over 200 years because the soil is well-drained and
easily-worked, making it ideal for plant nurseries. In 1724 Thomas
Waterer was farming at Knaphill (AKA Knap Hill), then his grandson
Michael Waterer (senior) acquired the bog-land in about 1770, drained
it and planted Rhododendrons and other Ericaceous plants. Supposedly
a Fagus sylvatica 'Pendula' – the “Weeping Green European beech”
– still stands, and it covers a quarter of an acre wide. Michael
Waterer (junior, 1770-1832) enthusiastically continued the enterprise
and especially the hybridization of Rhododendrons, and hundreds of
visitors attended exhibits at a show room in Regent Street, London.
Michael Jr. made Rhododendron crosses using blood from American
species, and when J.C. Loudon, founder of The Gardener's Magazine
visited in 1829 he exclaimed that it contained “the largest and
finest collection of American plants I ever saw.” In 1853 Anthony
Waterer took over, and the nursery was famous for the development of
azaleas. By 1861 there were 107 employees on 350 acres, and stock
included Douglas fir over 35 feet high and a Magnolia with a spread
of 54 feet. A walk was planted at 2,310 feet in length and 40 feet
wide, coined the “Rhododendron mile,” and it drew visits from
King Edward VII. Anthony's son, also Anthony, took over at his
father's death, but with the outbreak of WWI much of the staff
departed and a memorial recorded the names of those who were killed
in action. Anthony lost heart and made no attempt to restore the
wilderness the nursery had become.

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Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Minima Aurea' |
Back in 1875 the Knaphill Nursery
catalogue boasts of containing “the largest quantity of the finest
plants to be met with in this country, or in Europe. A visit, which
is earnestly solicited, will prove this to be no mere assertion.”
Their catalogue is 36 pages of fine print, sometimes with little
essays about how wonderful a plant is, so you see the nursery
braggarts 100 years ago acted the same as today. The Lawson cypress
(Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) already had golden and dwarf cultivars,
and for 'Viridis' we read, “This cypress, raised here, is, there is
no doubt, ONE OF THE FINEST HARDY EVERGREENS IN EXISTENCE.” The
hype continues with, “We do not believe there is an evergreen which
is so universally and deservedly admired. It is purchased, without
exception, by every one who sees it growing in our nursery.”
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Quercus robur 'Concordia' |
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Quercus robur 'Purpurea' |
Knaphill offered all kinds of deciduous
trees, such as Acer species, Aesculus, Betula, Quercus etc. I was
surprised to see that Quercus robur 'Concordia' was already in
production, and priced from 3s 6d to 7s 6d. Other cultivars of
English oak include 'Heterophylla' (Fern-leaved oak), 'Pendula'
(Weeping English oak) and 'Nigra' (Purple oak). Acer colchicum
'Rubrum' is offered, where “In this handsome tree the young leaves
are crimson,” but it turns out the specific epithet is synonymous
with Acer cappadocicum. Acer palmatum is not listed and
instead we have Acer polymorphum, with cultivars
'Atropurpureum', 'Dissectum', 'Palmadifolium', 'Rosea Marginatum' and
'Sanguinea'. The first specimen of Acer palmatum reached England in
1820, but prior to that the Swedish doctor-botanist Carl Peter
Thunberg had named it Acer palmatum for the hand-like shape of the
leaves. After all, the centuries-old Japanese names kaede
(hands of frogs) and momiji (hands of babies) were in use, so
I don't know why Waterer used polymorphum (which translates as
“many-formed”) in 1875.

Richard Smith Nurseries boasted in 1875
of growing 50 acres of fruit trees, 50 acres of conifers and other
evergreens and 12 acres of rose trees, with “32 miles of walks for
the convenience of attending to the stock, and 2 ½ acres of glass to
rear the young plants.” Smith's catalog is exclusively conifers,
with Wellingtonia 6-7' tall for 21s. A variegated version of the
giant redwood was 15s for a 2 ½' tree. Thujopsis borealis could be
had up to 7' tall for 5s, and if you bought one it would today be
called Xanthocyparis (Chamaecyparis) nootkatensis, the “Weeping
Alaska cedar.” The 'Compacta' and 'Variegata' selections were also
available.
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Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Rigid Dwarf' |
Chamaecyparis obtusa (hinoki) is
not listed in Smith's catalogue, instead we find the old generic name
of Retinospora with a number of cultivars. The same is true
with Chamaecyparis pisifera, but oddly C. ericoides, filifera,
lycopodioides, plumosa, squarrosa and stricta are given specific
status.
Glyptostrobus pensilis
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Glyptostrobus pensilis |
I was surprised to see Smith's listing
of Glyptostrobus sinensis pendula since I have never seen a weeping
form of what we now call Glyptostrobus pensilis. I'm also surprised
to read the description of G. pensilis in The Hillier Manual of
Trees and Shrubs (2014) that the species is “not recommended
for the cold localities...This remarkable species has grown in the
SHHG without protection for many years but has achieved a height of
only 3m (2013).” C'mon – winters at Hilliers are like those of
Club Med compared to mine in Oregon, and I have a 30-year-old
Glyptostrobus about 30' tall.

The William Barron and Son Nursery is
not shy to brag about their great plants, claiming that “their
stock of Coniferae has become celebrated both at home and abroad as
being perhaps the best in the trade. The superiority of their plants
is sufficiently established by the fact that, during the last six
years, W.B. and Son have constantly exhibited at all the principal
shows in the United Kingdom, and have as yet invariably obtained
first honours.”
Araucaria araucana
Araucaria imbricata (Chilean
pine) now goes with the specific name of araucana, since it
was discovered in the 1780's and originally named Pinus araucana.
Barron charged up to 110s for a larger-sized “Monkey Puzzle,” but
there's no exact height given. Surprisingly there is an 'Aurea
Variegata' listed – I've never seen one – and it is described as
“A beautiful golden variety of the Araucaria, raised by Mr. Fowler,
Castle Kennedy about 20 years ago, the original plant being now 22
ft. high, and finely variegated all over the tree.” Wow, I was in
the area of Castle Kennedy in southwest Scotland 20 years ago – I
wonder if the variegated Monkey Puzzle still stands?
Pinus ponderosa var. benthamiana
One pine Barron offers is P.
Benthamiana, and my guess is that it is a subspecies of Pinus
ponderosa, the west group that survives in western Oregon and
California. Another species is Don Pedro, and I don't know the
botanic name for sure, but I suspect it is P. taeda, the “Loblolly
pine.” I'm uncertain about Pinus Mandschuricus, except that
“Manchurian pine” is a common name for the “Korean pine,” P.
koraiensis, except elsewhere Barron lists a P. koraiensis.
William Barron (1805-1891) was born in
Berwickshire, Scotland, and after an apprenticeship at Blackadder he
entered the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh where he was put in
charge of the glasshouses. In 1862 he bought 40 acres for a nursery
site, then he was joined by his son in 1867. The firm gained a
reputation for landscape gardening and the transplantation of large
trees and was a leading provider of public park designs. I would love
to see his “Transplanting Machine” in action.
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Betula pendula 'Youngii' |
Maurice Young's Milford Nursery was
famous for the weeping birch, Betula pendula 'Youngii' which I used
to grow years ago. Young says, “I can now offer fine specimens in
standard or pyramidal forms, as well as young plants on stems of
various heights from 6 to 10 feet with good heads. As there are other
Weeping Birches, it is necessary to ask for Young's variety.”
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Juniperus chinensis 'Aurea' |
Young was most proud of his golden
Chinese juniper, Juniperus chinensis 'Aurea'. He boasts, “During
the two years that this plant has been before the public, it has more
than justified the high opinions given upon it by the Press and the
leading Horticulturalists, both in England and on the Continent, that
it is without doubt “THE FINEST GOLDEN CONIFER OF THE DAY.” Young
claims that his wonderful conifer has been supplied to:
Her Majesty The Queen, Royal Gardens,
Windsor
H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, Sandringham
H.R.H. Prince Frederick William,
Potsdam
H.S.R. The Grand Duke of Hesse,
Darmstadt
H.M. The King of the Belgians, Laeken
“Also to many noblemen and gentlemen,
and to the leading
nurseries in England, on the Continent,
and in America.”
Finally let's consider the Lawson Seed
and Nursery Company, for which Chamaecyparis lawsoniana was named.
Their catalog is 27 pages long with just a list of plants with
prices, with no plant descriptions or additional bragging. Very
Scots-like. The only ornament is a nice drawing of Cupressus
Lawsoniana, supposedly the original seedling. The evergreen is far
from my favorite conifer, though we do grow a few cultivars which are
grafted onto disease-resistant rootstock. C. lawsoniana is commonly
called the “Port Orford cedar” because it is native to the area
nearby present-day Cape Blanco, Oregon which George Vancouver
originally named for George, Earl of Orford, “a much respected
friend.” Today the incorporated city of Port Orford with its 1,000
souls is the westernmost incorporated place in the 48 contiguous
states.

Charles Lawson (1795-1873) was a
Scottish nurseryman and merchant, noted for the introduction of
foreign flora into the UK. When father Peter (a seed merchant) died
in 1821, Charles took over the family business of Peter Lawson and
Son and he became a specialist in grass seeds and conifers. I don't
know what ever became of the nursery, except that in 1886 The Lawson
Seed and Nursery Co LTD and Liquidators squared off legally versus
Peter Lawson and Son Ltd, so I guess they ended up fighting among
themselves.

I can accept that some Flora Wonder
Blog readers don't give a hoot about old British horticulture, and
couldn't care less about nurserymen from 100 years ago. Why does old
Buchholz dwell so far in the past? Well, I have books with old
photographs of nursery men and women, and everybody appears healthy
and earnest and completely engaged in their activities. I'd love to
do a year's internship at a British nursery in 1875. Of course it
would be better if I was still in my twenties or thirties, but I
would gain knowledge and perspective on my chosen craft.