New book explores legacy of nursery
A new book researched and written by two volunteers from local charity Beautiful Perth outlines the crucial role Perth played in the development of British horticulture.
Behind the ‘ The Perth Nursery and Beyond: a Spirit of Enterprise and Improvement’ are Elspeth Bruce and Pat Kerr.
It is newly published by Perth’s Tippermuir Books.
Elspeth and Pat researched and wrote about the pioneering work of an extensive plant nursery on the banks of the River Tay in Perth, in what is now Bridgend and Riverside Park.
From around the 18th century onwards the Perth nursery Dickson and Brown (later called Dickson and Turnbull after 1835 when Archibald Turnbull joined the business) was a big player in the early days of planting.
The Perth nurserymen developed the first commercial double rose and even imported the Christmas must-have, the first poinsettia.
Founded in 1767 by James Dickson and James Brown, the nursery went from strength to strength, supplying trees, plants and seeds to estates of the nobility and landed gentry.
Further afield, the burgeoning middle class became customers. Impressive gardens became integral in gentrified areas of places like Edinburgh New Town and Perth’s Georgian streets, including Marshall Place and Rose Terrace. One renowned client in the 18th century was the then Duke of York, who sourced trees for Windsor Great Park.
Many plants with which we are now very familiar were first developed in the Perth nursery.
In 1793 wild roses found growing on Kinnoull Hill were transplanted into the nursery to produce the first doubleflowered rose – the ‘Double Scotch Rose’.
This is believed to be the foundation of commercial rose breeding as we know it today.
The popular neep (turnip) crop can be traced to the plot by the Tay after world famous botanist Karl Linnaeus sent seeds of the Swedish turnip to the Perth nursery in 1772. The nursery went on to be the first distributor of one of the most valuable Scottish root crops.
Poinsettias come from North America. In 1834 Perth’s Robert Brown, with young botanist James McNab, went on a plant collecting exhibition to North America, returning with over 200 plants.
One of these, was the bright red poinsettia, now ubiquitous in garden centres and shops around Christmas.
‘ The Perth Nursery and Beyond – a Spirit of Enterprise’ is now available for sale in selected local book shops and garden centres, from Tippermuir Books and on Amazon.