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Purdom and Farrer : plant hunters on the eaves of China / Alistair Watt.

By:

Watt, Alistair

Material type:

9780646597867

Subject(s):

Summary: This volume represents the first in depth biographical study of the life of the often forgotten plant hunter William Purdom and estate owner Reginald Farrer. Both men were born in 1880, the year of the death of Robert Fortune, and came from completely different social standings. Purdom was the eldest son of the head gardener of a property-owning businessman in the Lake District. Farrer, on the other hand, was the first scion of landed gentry who owned a huge estate in the Yorkshire Dales. Despite their vastly contrasting backgrounds, their common interest in alpine flowers, brought them together in an expedition to hunt for new plants for British gardens on the mountain slopes where the eaves of China meets the roof of Tibet. Both died young; Farrer on the rain-soaked border hills of Burma in 1920, Purdom in Peking a year later. However, in our gardens their legacy of beautiful plants, some bearing their names, will remain alive always.

Holdings ( 2 )
Title notes ( 2 )

Holdings
Cover image	Item type	Current library	Home library	Collection	Shelving location	Call number	Materials specified	Vol info	URL	Copy number	Status	Notes	Date due	Barcode	Item reserves	Item reserve queue priority	Course reserves
	Book	State Botanical Collection		RBG		925.8 PUR (Browse shelf(Opens below))				1	Available			RBGM00009138
	Book	State Botanical Collection		RBG		925.8 PUR (Browse shelf(Opens below))				2	Available			RBG00025470

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This volume represents the first in depth biographical study of the life of the often forgotten plant hunter William Purdom and estate owner Reginald Farrer. Both men were born in 1880, the year of the death of Robert Fortune, and came from completely different social standings. Purdom was the eldest son of the head gardener of a property-owning businessman in the Lake District. Farrer, on the other hand, was the first scion of landed gentry who owned a huge estate in the Yorkshire Dales. Despite their vastly contrasting backgrounds, their common interest in alpine flowers, brought them together in an expedition to hunt for new plants for British gardens on the mountain slopes where the eaves of China meets the roof of Tibet. Both died young; Farrer on the rain-soaked border hills of Burma in 1920, Purdom in Peking a year later. However, in our gardens their legacy of beautiful plants, some bearing their names, will remain alive always.