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Introduction

 
Associate Professor Helen Leach, Curator
Associate Professor Helen Leach, Curator  
 
 

 

  

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.

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.

Links to other online gardening exhibtions

 

  
   

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