American Gardening

It was no surprise that since garden writer William Robinson (1838-1935) was so important in England that he would also assume a role in the development of the American garden. The Pittsburgh seed company owner Benjamin A. Elliott, who began his company in 1840, gave a considerable amount of space in his catalog to instruction for [...]

William Robinson (1838-1935)  became an important influence in English garden history during the second half of the nineteenth century. He preferred the English naturalistic style, and fought with those who encouraged a formal and symmetrical look to the landscape. His intolerance for the ‘landscape architect’ guided much of his writing.  He thought plantsmen and horticulturists [...]

Today plant hunters still travel the world looking for plants that will find a home in American gardens. The American grower Proven Winners tests plants from sixty breeders around the world.  The company trials them and if they are worthwhile, the new plants become part of the palate for the American gardener. The company introduces [...]

Today we take the sales catalog for granted. In our house several arrive in the mail each month, selling everything from flour to clothes. In the nineteenth century the American seed and nursery industries pioneered the use of the mail order catalog to reach customers across the country.  It became their major form of advertising. [...]

The question of advertising the garden continues to haunt me. How is it that we covet the plants and garden products that become heavily advertised? In some way advertising gives legitimacy to a product. If it’s advertised, it must be good. But more than that. The more advertising is connected to the product, the better [...]

Every year I look forward to the nursery trade show in the Northeast called New England Grows. The show attracts thousands.  It was held last week, only Wednesday and Thursday, cut short a day because of the snow storm. What I like about New England Grows besides the lectures which always bring me new ideas, [...]

This past week I attended a lecture on the chromolithography exhibit currently showing at the Boston Athenaeum. I knew that chromos played a key role in advertising in the nineteenth century and wanted to learn a bit more about them. A chromo is a colored illustration in which the artist used a flat limestone for [...]

I always wondered when seed companies first  started to send seeds across the country in the U. S. mail. The Philadelphia nurseryman Thomas Meehan in the 1873 issue of his magazine Gardener’s Monthly included an article entitled “The Father of the Postal Seed Business” written by fruit-grower, landscape gardener, and writer Franklin Reuben Elliott. Elliott wrote: [...]

By the end of the nineteenth century seed company and nursery catalogs would offer for sale many varieties of one plant. That was possible because of the new system of mass production of seeds and plants.  Like any business, the garden industry sought ways to incease its inventory and market share. The growing conditions of [...]

  I just came across the book Pages from a Garden Note-Book by Mrs. Francis King, written in 1921.  It’s focus is American gardening at the beginning of the twentieth century. King included a wonderful chapter on seed and nursery catalogs.  Many well-known seed company and nursery owners are mentioned like Childs, Henderson, Lovett, Vaughan, [...]