Garden plants and their hunters – John Bartram

After John Bartram's grandfather emigrated to America in 1682, the young John Bartram received little education – but that didn’t stop him becoming one of America’s greatest plant hunters. While he was still a young man, his uncle died and left him a small farm, which he looked after and from the profits bought a tract of land which has become known as ‘the first botanic garden in America’ this garden, along with his house are now preserved as part of the park system of Pennsylvania.

Peter Collinson was a wholesale draper in England – he was introduced to John Bartram, and hired him to seek out and send to him a vast range of American species and varieties – and Bartram was so successful that fifty-seven British growers, especially members of the aristocracy, became subscribers and received shrubs and trees from him. Bartram’s travels yields "great botanical treasures" and much botanical and horticultural information. He was probably the first American to perform successful experiments in hybridization and he is credited with ‘discovering’ the Calycanthus floridus, which is also known as Strawberry-shrub, Bubby Blossom, Sweet Bubby, Sweet Bettie, Spicebush, Sweet Betsy or Carolina Allspice.

Carolina Allspice photograph by meshmar2, used under a creative commons attribution licence

Plant Hunters