{"id":16903,"date":"2025-10-03T16:31:36","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T23:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/?post_type=book&p=16903"},"modified":"2025-10-03T16:47:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T23:47:33","slug":"the-botanical-cabinet","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/book\/the-botanical-cabinet\/","title":{"rendered":"The Botanical Cabinet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Conrad Loddiges (1738-1826) was born in the Kingdom of Hannover, now part of northern Germany, but after training in Holland, he moved at age 19 to the village of Hackney, now part of northeast London.\u00a0 He purchased a seed company, eventually turning this into Loddiges Nursery, one of the most prominent in Europe.<\/p>\n

Loddiges of Hackney<\/em><\/a> by David Solman is the history of this business.\u00a0 It was known for an array of large greenhouses, including a palm house 40 feet high that incorporated innovations such as steam heating and rain-like irrigation \u2013 allowing the raising of tropical palms, orchids, ferns, and carnivorous plants.\u00a0 A cooler, camellia house was created for this genus, allowing winter blooming.\u00a0 Sadly, none of these greenhouses have been preserved.<\/p>\n

Outside, the nursery maintained a large planting of trees and shrubs.\u00a0 To this the term \u201carboretum\u201d was first applied by a leading horticultural writer of the day.\u00a0 However, unlike the Washington Park Arboretum, this was a commercial venture, and these plants were displayed to promote sales.\u00a0 In the 1820s, Loddiges catalog had 2,664 hardy trees and shrubs, including roses and vines.<\/p>\n

Loddiges Nursery was instrumental in providing live subjects for William Curtis and his Botanical Magazine<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 When Conrad\u2019s son George Loddiges (1784-1846) began publishing a nursery catalog, titled The Botanical Cabinet<\/em>,\u00a0in a similar format, he hastened to assure Curtis\u2019s successor as editor that this was not a rivalry.\u00a0 He wrote a conciliatory note observing \u201cthe boundless variety of the vegetable world is doubtless sufficient to afford subjects for us all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on September 15, 2025<\/p>\n

Excerpted from the Fall 2025 issue of the Journal – Book Club of Washington<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Conrad Loddiges (1738-1826) was born in the Kingdom of Hannover, now part of northern Germany, but after training in Holland, he moved at age 19 to the village of Hackney, now part of northeast London.\u00a0 He purchased a seed company, eventually turning this into Loddiges Nursery, one of the most prominent in Europe. Loddiges of Hackney by David Solman is the history of this business.\u00a0 It was known for an array of large greenhouses, including a palm house 40 feet…<\/p>\n

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