The Delights of Victorian Gardening

Course Outline

01 May 2025 – Introduction to Victorian Horticulture

The Victorian era of gardening saw an explosion of horticultural innovation, technological development, professionalisation of the gardening trade, and the introduction of plants from around the world to the gardens of the British Isles. This series of lectures will explore the stories of ten objects and people who were instrumental in creating the profession of gardening that we know today. This week we will ground ourselves in the key historical moments of this energetic and progressive period of horticulture.

08 May 2025 – The Horticultural Press Goes Mainstream

19thC improvements in literacy, and the reduction of the ‘taxes on knowledge’ between 1833-1861, led to the emergence of a press corps of garden writers who wielded immense power. New horticultural institutions needed nationwide coverage to promote their aims.  The Gardener’s Chronicle is the accepted newspaper of the Victorians, but it was not the first weekly gardening newspaper! We will explore other periodicals that fulfilled the amateur and professional gardeners’ thirst for gardening news, advice and gossip.

15 May 2025 – The Metropolitan Florists

The first florists’ flowers recognised in early botanical writings were selected for their beauty rather than utility, thereby setting them aside from common vegetables and fruit. We will explore the delicate and detailed husbandry of the early 19^th century florist, whose craft and trade were centred around cultivating florist’s flowers. The colonial ambitions of the botanical elite saw foreign territories as the botanical future for economic success, whilst the florists feared this threat to their carefully procured livelihoods.

22 May 2025 – Lead, Glass and Timber

The glasshouse became a must-have item for any middle-class Victorian garden. The glass tax was lifted in 1845 and sheet glass improvements enabled manufacturers to fabricate cheaper, metal and timber models. British boiler systems also progressed to combat the vagaries of the English climate. We will explore the innovations that dominated the indoor gardening scene, review the iconic Crystal Palace and its predecessor at Chatsworth. And finally enjoy the smaller household adaptations which saw ‘ferneries’ delighting the Victorian gardening public.

29 May 2025 – Visit to The Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library (RHS)

We will meet at the Lindley library for a presentation on the history of the library and a special tour of the collections, both illustrative and literary. Named after the renowned 19thC botanist and secretary of the RHS, John Lindley (1799-1865), it houses over 50,000 books dating back to 1514 and 18,000 drawings.  The library boasts fresh acquisitions and the 2023 initiated volunteer research ‘Digital Dig uncovering Britain’s lost plant nurseries has revealed many fascinating horticultural histories.  

05 June 2025 – The Victorian Orchid Craze

The orchid family was the nineteenth century passion of wealthy aristocrats and entrepreneurs who created huge collections as a pleasurable distraction from fashionable society and business. They also hybridised new varieties in their purpose-built laboratories. To feed their competitive natures they showed them at the Royal Horticultural Society Orchid Committee and won enviable prizes. We will look at some of these collections alongside the orchid painter, Nelly Roberts whose botanical artistry recorded these special plants for posterity.

12 June 2025 – The March of Gardening Technology

Victorian gardeners were inventors at heart, leading the charge to transform everyday gardening tasks with a vast array of tools and mechanical innovations. Mail order deliveries brought amateur gardening as a leisure activity to the regions.  New novel chemical concoctions offered a toxic mixture for gardeners to choose from, with persuasive advertising. We will observe how many of these advances were a positive influence on horticulture and which ones were better left on the back shelf of the gardening shed.

19 June 2025 – Philanthropy and Gardens

The gardening trade professionalised itself during the nineteenth century.  Within this competitive market the twilight of a head gardener’s career was not necessarily provided for by his employer after years of service. With little welfare provision and fear of the workhouse, the gardening trade formed a system of financial support to help their compatriots.  We will explore the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution and its subscribers which was patronised by royalty and famous gardeners like Joseph Paxton and William Robinson.

26 June 2025 – The Female Professional Gardener

Women gardeners take centre stage in this week’s session. The period of 1890 – 1914 saw a rise in female gardeners taking to the profession, passing RHS examinations with aplomb but with much opposition from the male members of horticultural institutions and the wider gardening trade. Where did these women get their training and experience to compete with the men?  We will compare the stories of some well known female gardeners and those that had remained in the shadows until today.

03 JULY 2025 – Garden Exhibitions Galore!

As a final hurrah to the nineteenth century, we will be looking at the British fascination with flower shows and exhibitions.  Nineteenth century gardeners were particularly competitive and not unknown to enact some careful cultivation techniques to win the all-important medals. Britain hosted some truly ground-breaking horticultural exhibitions and conferences where the science of horticulture and innovation reached new heights. We will investigate these and look at when the rivalry could be put to philanthropic good for the horticultural community.