Plant Hunter Weekend at Lullingstone Castle & the World Garden
24th & 25th July 2010, 11am - 5pm
The World Garden at Lullingstone Castle celebrated the lives of some of Britain’s most intrepid plant hunters on the weekend of 24th and 25th July when it staged its ‘Plant Hunter’ weekend exploring the origins of some of the most common plants grown in our gardens today but which are not native to Britain. Few people realise that some 80% of the plants we grow are not actually native to Britain but were introduced by British plant hunters who often risked their lives to bring back rare and exotic species.
These intrepid people heroically discovered the far-flung botanical delights of the world and have inspired Tom Hart Dyke, as a modern day plant hunter, to travel all over the world. He has travelled widely, including to Australia, South America and the Canary Islands (see inset of Tom in La Palma), collecting the seeds of potentially hardy, ornamental specimens – albeit in his case with the help of a jet plane instead of a ship!
These undeservedly sometimes forgotten courageous individuals are to be applauded for their noteworthy botanical introductions to Britain that have spiced up our gardens and have made our nation the envy of the horticultural world. These sometimes ‘nutty’, death defying plant hunters, over the last three centuries of amazing plant collecting have put the world of plants into our gardens.
On both the 24th and 25th, Tom led guided tours of the World Garden exploring the life of Victorian plant hunter David Douglas (see inset, drawn by Tom’s Granny Mary Hart Dyke), in a fascinating and lively portrayal as he made his expeditions to North America where he was responsible for the introduction of the lupin (Lupinus polyphyllus) and the Californian poppy (Eschscholzia californica).
Modern day plant hunting is still very much alive and Tom introduced visitors to some of the species that he has brought back to Lullingstone from his own plant hunting expeditions which have not always gone according to plan. Whilst plant hunting for rare orchids in Colombia, Tom and his travelling companion were taken hostage by Colombian guerrillas for nine months. Upon returning home to Lullingstone, Tom began the task of creating the World Garden which opened to visitors in 2005.
Not forgetting the wealth of vegetables and fruit that originated overseas, cookery demonstrations were staged during the weekend using produce from the Americas’ Kitchen Garden at Lullingstone, a fascinating project by MoCHA (the Museum of Culinary History and Alimentation). Celebrity chef Simon Boyle from ‘Beyond Boyle’ was also on site with his trainee students using this produce to create simple and flavoursome dishes for visitors to sample. A hog roast added to the culinary offering.
Younger visitors enjoyed their own plant hunting expedition by taking part in Tom’s ‘Plant Hunter Quiz’ and enjoyed the Labyrinth, a complex series of winding paths which were created on the lawn in front of Lullingstone Castle by Hugh Nisbet.