Early Canadian Gardening: An 1827 Nursery Catalogue

Barbara Robertson is the author of Wilfrid Laurier: The Great
Conciliator and the co-author of The Well-Filled Cupboard.

Eileen Woodhead takes as her text the 1827 garden catalogue of the
Toronto Nursery owned by William W. Custead. William Lyon Mackenzie
published the catalogue, the only copy of which survives in W.W.
Baldwin’s collection of bound pamphlets. Baldwin was a Reformer in
politics, as was his famous son, Robert. It seems that even in gardening
the politics of Upper Canada surfaced.

In addition to providing a good deal of information about gardening in
the early 19th century, Woodhead identifies each plant in the catalogue,
describes its origins and uses, and very often provides an illustration.
She also indicates how the plants got to Upper Canada, whether they were
a success, and whether they are still grown. In a surprising number of
cases—certain apple trees, lemon lilies, Hollow Crown parsnips, for
example—they still are. As for asparagus, it took to the wild.

What fascinates Woodhead particularly is the way in which seeds,
plants, and bulbs crossed and recrossed international borders from the
16th century onward. But she also has much to say about growing plants
in Upper Canada. In addition to field crops, vegetables, and fruit, she
deals with herbs, both culinary and medicinal (doctors and veterinarians
were not as thick as blackberries in pioneer times, so settlers had to
be self-reliant). Perhaps most surprising of all is the section on
greenhouse plants, indicating “the wide-ranging interest in exotic
plants” and essentially the possession of a greenhouse, no easy
achievement at a time when glass had to be imported.

Despite its rather austere appearance, Early Canadian Gardening is
readable and entertaining, and will delight both amateur and
professional gardeners. While the book has many of the characteristics
of a herbal, its Upper Canadian setting makes it not merely unusual, but
unique.