The Brother Gardeners

This is the fascinating story of a small group of eighteenth-century naturalists who made Britain a nation of gardeners and the epicenter of horticultural and botanical expertise. It’s the story of a garden revolution that began in America.

In 1733, the American farmer John Bartram dispatched two boxes of plants and seeds from the American colonies, addressed to the London cloth merchant Peter Collinson. Most of these plants had never before been grown in British soil, but in time the magnificent and colorful American trees, evergreens, and shrubs would transform the English landscape and garden forever. During the next forty years, Collinson and a handful of botany enthusiasts cultivated hundreds of American species. The Brother Gardeners follows the lives of six of these men, whose shared passion for plants gave rise to the English love affair with gardens. In addition to Collinson and Bartram, who forged an extraordinary friendship, here are Philip Miller, author of the best-selling Gardeners Dictionary; the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, whose standardized nomenclature helped bring botany to the middle classes; and Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, who explored the strange flora of Brazil, Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia on the greatest voyage of discovery of their time, aboard Captain Cook’s Endeavour.

From the exotic blooms in Botany Bay to the royal gardens at Kew, from the streets of London to the vistas of the Appalachian Mountains, The Brother Gardeners paints a vivid portrait of an emerging world of knowledge and of gardening as we know it today. It is a delightful and beautifully told narrative history.

From the Hardcover edition.

Share your thoughts on the The Brother Gardeners ebook with other internet viewers!

Title of ebook: The Brother Gardeners
ISBN: 9780307271471
parent-ISBN: 9780307270238
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Pages: 368
Published: 03-2009
Released online for download: 03-31-2009
Author of eBook: Wulf, Andrea

Format

Encrypted

Sku

ISBN

File size

Security

Printing

Copying

Read aloud

Devices

ePub

Yes

0307271471

9780307271471

9628 KB

n/a

Not allowed

No

Sys Requirments

Download reader

Mobipocket

Yes

9780307271471

3464 KB

n/a

Not allowed

No

Sys Requirements

Download reader

eReader

Yes

7770560756

9780307271471

2869 KB

n/a

Not allowed

No

Sys Requirments

Download reader

The Brother Gardeners

Chapter One

1

"Forget not Mee & My Garden"

There ought to be gardens for all the months in the year,
in which severally things of beauty may be then in season.

FRANCIS BACON, "Of Gardens," 1625

The first three months of the year were always the busiest time for the cloth merchant Peter Collinson, for it was then that the ships from the American colonies arrived in London. But on this January morning in 1734 he was concerned not with the arrival of reels of wool or bales of cotton but with an altogether different cargo. Awaiting him at Custom House, down by the docks, were two boxes of plants that, for Collinson, were the most exciting piece of merchandise he had ever received.

As he hurried towards the Thames from his Gracechurch Street office, in the financial centre of the city, Collinson could see the clusters of tall masts above the rooftops and hear the cries of stevedores as they unloaded precious goods from the holds. The stretch of the river between London Bridge and the Tower was the main harbour of London an ... read full excerpt from: The Brother Gardeners ebook

Top eBooks in "Gardening"

101 Uses for Stinging Nettles

by Warren, Piers

Stinging nettles are, for many of us, nothing more than persistent weeds with a painful sting. But apart from having an important role in the web of life, nettles are an ...more

Best price: $6.99

British Native Trees - Their Past and Present Uses

by Warren, Piers

British Native Trees - Their Past and Present Uses Including a guide to burning wood in the home A new book by trained tree surgeon and smallholder Piers Warren This unique ...more

Best price: $6.95

Ancient Herbs, Modern Medicine

by Miller, Glenn, M.D. / Han, Henry Omd

The best of eastern and Western medicine in an integrative healing system for the mind, body, and spirit.
Now, for the first time, a Western physician and a ...more

Best price: $13.16

Cheap and EasyTM Houseplants

by Boughner, Bernice

So you want to decorate every nook and cranny in every room of your home with foliage or flowers. Maybe you just want to take care of the dish garden, African violet, or green...more

Best price: $5.42

Cheap and Easy Gardening

by Young, Mary

You say you have a yard that could be improved by a liberal application of Agent Orange? You say you've got tumbleweed where there should be lawn, vines that could be hiding a...more

Best price: $5.42

Meridian Exercise of Self-Healing: Classified by Common Symptoms

by Ilchi, Lee

This full-color, user-friendly book features simple meridian exercises that combine breathing, movement, stretching, and focused attention to improve overall balance and ...more

Best price: $18.89

Vegetable Gardening For Dummies

by Nardozzi, Charlie

A hands-on guide to the ins and outs of raising and using vegetablesWant to grow your own vegetables? You can do it the fun and easy way with this practical guide. ...more

Best price: $17.70

Principles of Horticulture

by R. Adams, C.

Principles of Horticulture is an excellent introduction to a wide range of aspects of commercial and leisure horticulture. Written in a highly accessible and readable style, ...more

Best price: $38.44

Other Crafts, Hobbies & Home eBooks Categories

Cooking (993)

Crafts (250)

Gambling (49)

Games (221)

Gardening (65)

House & Home (243)

Pets (537)

Video & Electronic (59)