Veitch Nursery
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into two separate businesses—based at Chelsea and
Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
—as it became unfeasible to run the whole operation from one location. There was a Veitch Nursery in Kingston at Coombe, on Kingston Hill. Famous plant hunters in the Victorian period employed by the Veitch family include the brothers Thomas Lobb and William Lobb from Cornwall and David Bowman. The Veitch's ability to grow exotic plants is noted in
William Jackson Hooker Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botany, botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew Gardens, Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botan ...
's description of '' Verticordia nitens'', and they were able to supply a specimen for its illustration. The firm had, by the outbreak of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, introduced 1281 plants into cultivation, which were either previously unknown or newly-bred varieties (see cultivars). These included 498 greenhouse plants, 232 orchids, 153
deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
trees, shrubs and
climbing plant A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...
s, 122 herbaceous plants, 118 exotic
fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...
s, 72
evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
and climbing plants, 49 conifers, and 37 ornamental bulbous plants. In the years to come, more plants followed. The nurseries were most famous for their orchids, although they also introduced several famous plants from other families, such as '' Nepenthes rajah'' and '' Nepenthes northiana''. The pitcher plant species '' N. veitchii'' is named in honour of the Veitch dynasty. The Chelsea business ceased to trade in 1914, whilst the Exeter business continued under Peter Veitch and later his daughter Mildred. She in turn sold the firm in 1969, when it was bought by St Bridget Nurseries. The business was run as a separate business for a further 20 years, but is now a subsidiary of St Bridget. John Veitch,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and Corinthian footballer, was a member of the Veitch family and joined the family firm as company secretary.


Veitch collectors

The house of Veitch employed twenty-two recognised plant hunters, including three members of the Veitch family. Most prominent of these were brothers
William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
and Thomas Lobb, Ernest Wilson and Charles Maries. The others were: * Richard Pearce: Visited Chile, Peru and Bolivia from 1859 to 1866 * John Gould Veitch: Visited Japan, South Sea Islands and Australia from 1860 to 1870 * David Bowman: Visited Brazil in 1866 * Henry Hutton: Visited Java and the Malay Archipelago from 1866 to 1868 * Carl Kramer: Visited Japan and Costa Rica from 1867 to 1868 * Gottlieb Zahn: Visited Central America from 1869 to 1870 *George Downton: Visited Central and South America from 1870 to 1873 * Henry Chesterton: Visited South America from 1870 to 1878 * A. R. Endres: Visited Costa Rica from 1871 to 1873 * Gustav Wallis: Visited Brazil, New Granada, South America from 1872 to 1874 * Walter Davis: Visited South America from 1873 to 1876 * Peter Veitch: Visited Australia, South Sea Islands and Borneo from 1875 to 1878 * Guillermo Kalbreyer: Visited West Coast of Africa and Colombia from 1876 to 1881 * Christopher Mudd: Visited South Africa in 1877 * F. W. Burbridge: Visited Borneo from 1877 to 1878 * Charles Curtis: Visited Madagascar, Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Moluccas from 1878 to 1884 * David Burke: Visited East Indies, Burma and Columbia from 1881 to 1897 * James H. Veitch: Visited India, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand from 1891 to 1893


See also

* John Dominy * John Seden


Notes


References

*


External links


Veitch Heritage (Garden) in Exeter

Veitch Nurseries on www.caradocdoy.co.uk



The House of Veitch
{{Veitch family Horticultural companies of the United Kingdom Landscape design history Plant collectors