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March 08, 2005
Plant Hunting, Past and Present
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Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalaya
by Jamaica Kincaid, National Geographic Society
Sex, Botany & Empire
by Patricia Fara, Columbia University Press
Plants from the Edge of the World
by Mark Flanagan and Tony Kirkham, Timber Press
The Jade Garden
Peter Wharton, Brent Hine, Douglas Justice, Timber Press (publication date June 15)
To anyone familiar with the Heronswood catalogue it is clear that we are in the midst of a new era of intensive plant hunting and collecting "From high elevations in the enchanting valley of Topke Gola in far NE Nepal we collected seed from..." and there are several recently out or soon to be published books focused on plant hunters both past and present.
Sex Botany and Empire is a delightful little book that considers the impact of both Linneaus and Joseph Banks on the wider culture of their times. Plants from the Edge of the World follows modern day plant hunters from Britain's Royal Horticultural Society as they explore the east for new and unusual species and varieties. The Jade Garden picks up the story by describing the garden worthiness of many recent plant introductions from the Asia. This 21st century plant hunting is also inspiring literature;
Jamaica Kincaid has written a poetic travelogue of her plant hunting trip to Nepal with Dan Hinkley, of Heronswood Nursery and Catalogue called Among the Flowers, a walk in the Himalaya.
A Rage for Rock Gardening:
The Story of Reginald Farrer, Gardener, Writer and Plant Collector
By Nicola Shulman, Godine
Although the rarified world of Alpines is way too complex and obscure for the lay person to penetrate, this biography of the famed rock gardener and plant collector gives an entertaining portrait of one man's obsession. Farrer introduced to the West hundreds of plants--all those with Farreri after them--we cherish today. This was first published in paperback in 2003 and came out in hardback last October. James Fenton just gave it an excellent review in the New York Review of Books.
So where did our recent collective obsession with native plants go? A few years ago we were all designing with native plants, creating native plant gardens, and virtuously preserving indigeneous species. Can these worthy tendencies coexist with the romantic lure of the new and exotic?
Posted by gardenguidenyc at March 8, 2005 03:08 PM