Cultivating Gardens: practical gardening advice through the ages

 

Press Release

Everything you want to know about gardens but were afraid to ask!

Botanists rely on floras, and apothecaries on herbals for the critical task of plant identification. Gardeners need practical advice as well as descriptions of plants-such as on the best times to sow seeds and graft trees, on the latest varieties, on bulb storage, and on tools and techniques.

A new exhibition called 'Cultivating Gardens: practical gardening advice through the ages', will be begin on 21 March 2003 in the de Beer Gallery at Special Collections, Central Library, Otago University Library.

This exhibition will showcase books that offer such practical gardening advice. Some of the books are small enough to be true handbooks or manuals. Others, like the gardening dictionaries, are too massive to be taken into the garden and were undoubtedly destined for shelves in a gentleman's library. The exhibition will not only trace the development of practical English gardening books from the late 16th century to the Victorian era, but will also follow developments in 19th and 20th century New Zealand, where new manuals were written for local conditions.

Items of particular note on display will be Philip Miller's The gardeners dictionary [1731], John Evelyn's classic Sylva, or a discourse of forest-trees (1664), Maria Jacson's Florist's manual (1816), and John Abercrombie's Every man his own gardener (1797). Important New Zealand books borrowed from the Hocken Library will include George Chapman's Hand book to the farm and garden (1862), early editions of Brett's and Yates' Gardening Guides, Michael Murphy's Handbook of gardening for New Zealand, and Muriel Fisher's Gardening with New Zealand Plants, Shrubs and trees (1970). Also displayed will be rare seed posters printed for the Dunedin firm Matheson and Roberts.

The exhibition will run through to 6 June 2003.

The curator for this exhibition will be Professor Helen Leach, a garden history expert.
Special Collections,
First Floor, Central Library
Otago University Library
Hours: Monday to Friday 8.30 to 5.00.

Publicity images can be supplied.

For any further enquiries please contact Donald Kerr, Special Collections Librarian, phone: (03)-479-8330; donald.kerr@library.otago.ac.nz or Professor Helen Leach, at helen.leach@stonebow.otago.ac.nz