Gardens of Empire, Espionage, Exploration and Exotic plants. Victorian adventures in bloom 1840-1890’s

A ten week online course

Starts Thursday 8th October 2026

The Victorian age transformed Britain's gardens more profoundly than any previous period. Advances in science and technology, expanding global trade, imperial ambition and the rise of the middle classes combined to create an unprecedented enthusiasm for gardening, introducing thousands of new plants and reshaping both public and private landscapes.

This ten-week course explores the remarkable stories behind this horticultural revolution. Through the lives of pioneering botanists, adventurous plant hunters, gardeners, engineers and influential patrons, we will discover how exploration, scientific discovery and empire shaped the gardens of nineteenth-century Britain.

From hazardous collecting expeditions in the Himalayas and Robert Fortune's clandestine mission into China to Joseph Paxton's revolutionary glasshouses and the spectacular bedding schemes that became a hallmark of Victorian taste, the course examines the close relationship between horticulture, science, commerce and society. Alongside figures such as Joseph Dalton Hooker, Charles Darwin and Marian North, we will also consider the contributions of influential women, professional gardeners and the great nursery firms that helped fuel Britain's passion for plants.

Topics include the creation of public parks, the rise of kitchen gardens and conservatories, the fascination with orchids and ferns, and the enduring appeal of celebrated gardens such as Kew, Biddulph Grange and Cragside. We will also examine the more challenging aspects of this history, including the relationship between botanical collecting, colonial expansion, indigenous knowledge and environmental change.

Suitable for gardeners, historians and anyone with an interest in the history of gardens, art and horticulture, the course assumes no specialist knowledge. It welcomes all who wish to explore the cultural, scientific and social significance of Victorian gardening and discover how this extraordinary period continues to influence the gardens we enjoy today.

Week 1 – Introduction

• The rise of the middle class

• Industrialisation and leisure

• From landscape parks to ornamental gardens

• The Victorian passion for collecting

• Introduction to key figures and themes

• William Andrews Nesfield

• The largest fountain in Europe

Week 2 – The Plant Hunters

• Why Britain wanted exotic plants

• Dangerous expeditions around the world

• Famous plant collectors: Joseph Dalton Hooker, Charles Darwin and Robert Fortune

• Wardian cases and transporting living plants

• The impact on British gardens

• Marian North

Week 3 – Tea, Espionage and Empire

• The British obsession with tea – 1st intro by Catherine of Braganza but purchased from Dutch east India company etc

• Robert Fortune's RHS stealing mission into China

• How tea plants and expertise were smuggled to India

• The role of the East India Company

• Ethics of plant collecting and empire

Week 4 – Glass, Iron and Innovation

• The greenhouse revolution – back to Loudon glazing bar - Paxton

• The Wardian case

• Heated glasshouses

·       Lady Dorothy Nevill-Dangstein

• Advances in horticultural technology

• The influence of The Crystal Palace on garden design 

Week 5 – Literature, technology and the public park

• Nurseries and seed catalogues  Veitch – Backhouse

• Derby arboretum

• Birkenhead – Paxton and Kemp

• Public health initiative – drinking fountains

• Sewers and embankment gardens

Week 6 – The Language of Flowers

• Floriography – The Florists Society

• Floral displays

• Bedding schemes

• Fern fever (Pteridomania) Devon

• Orchid mania

• Conservatories as status symbols

Week 7 – Great Victorian Gardens = each reflected wealth, science and empire.

• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

• Biddulph Grange Garden

• Cragside

• Bicton Park Botanical Gardens

• Brodsworth

Week 8 – The Kitchen Garden

• Fruit walls and forcing houses

·       Lady Dorothy Nevill-Dangstein

• Pineapple pits

• Estate gardening

• The rise of the professional gardener and head gardeners

• Kitchen gardens versus ornamental gardens

Week 9 – The Dark Side of Victorian Gardening

• Colonialism and botanical imperialism

• Exploitation of indigenous knowledge

• Environmental consequences

• Plant diseases

• Invasive species

Week 10 – The love of revival gardening with topiary, some new rock gardens and the Italian Renaissance is back (again)

• Elavaston, Friar Park

• Cragside, Lamport Hall

• Lady Broughton at Hoole House

• Whitley Court

10 WEEK ONLINE COURSE

PRICE £250.00

1.5 hours a week

Our online Zoom course will begin on Thursday, 8th October 2026
6 pm-7.30 pm GMT.

All Zoom sessions are recorded and notes are sent out after each class.