Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society ( RHS , "Royal Horticultural Society") is a British association whose aim is the promotion of garden art .
history
The association was founded on March 7, 1804 as the London Horticultural Society in the Hatchards Bookstore in Piccadilly . Founding members were John Wedgwood (1766–1844) as chairman, William Townsend Aiton , director of Kew Gardens , Joseph Banks , president of the Royal Society , James Dickson , a gardener, William Forsyth (overseer of the gardens of St James's Palace and Kensington Palace ), the politicians Charles Francis Greville (1749-1809) and Richard Anthony Salisbury . The first permanent seat of the association was on Regent Street . When the club got into financial trouble in 1859, with debts exceeding £ 10,000, it had to give up the club's seat and sell the library. It was finally renovated by Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha with funds from the London World Exhibition , Queen Victoria donated 1000 pounds, followed by other members of the royal family. Since 1861, thanks to a decree from Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, it has been allowed to bear the name of the Royal Horticultural Society . He leased land in Kensington Gore on the advice of the Prince, and in 1861 his first Italian-style show garden was opened there. In 1864 the gardens had 152,962 paying visitors. In addition, members of society and their friends could visit the gardens for free on weekends. To make them more attractive, tennis was allowed on the lawns in the 1870s .
In 1867 the Society's secretary, John Lindley , began building a new library. Since the company had again taken over financially, the gardens had to be closed in the 1870s. Today the Imperial College is located on the site . In 1928 the society had 25,000 members. In 1979, after a wave of bankruptcies in traditional nurseries in Great Britain in the Thatcher years, the RHS founded the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens .
The Royal Horticultural Society now has charity status.
activities
The Royal Horticultural Society's activities since 1827 have included a series of garden shows . A spring show has been held since 1862, first in Kensington, then in Temple Gardens in Embankment from 1913 in Chelsea . This led to the annual Chelsea Flower Show . In 1985 the Society's Review Committee found that the RHS was underrepresented outside of South East England. After that, more exhibitions were held in other parts of England.
In 2013, the RHS hosted the RHS London Plant and Design Show in mid-February, RHS Great London Plant Fair in late March, the Orchid & Botanical Art Show in April, RHS Show Cardiff , Malvern Spring Gardening Show in early May (since 1988), RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in July (organized by RHS since 1993), RHS Flower Show Tatton Park , Malvern Autumn Show in late September, RHS London Harvest Festival Show and RHS London Shades of Autumn Show in October.
The Harlow Carr Show , Scotland's Garden Show and the News International Spring Gardening Fair will no longer take place.
The RHS awards various prizes and awards, with the Award of Garden Merit in particular for plant varieties being of considerable importance for the trade.
Facilities
The RHS maintains model gardens in Wisley ( Surrey ) Rosemoor ( Devon ), Hyde Hall ( Essex ) and Harlow Carr ( North Yorkshire ), the latter previously belonged to the Northern Horticultural Society . In London, the association or its company RHS Enterprises Limited owns two exhibition halls ( RHS Horticultural Halls ), the Lindley Hall in Elverton Street and Lawrence Hall in Greycoat Street in Chelsea , in which the London exhibitions take place. Lindley Hall in typical Edwardian brick style was built in 1904 and was listed as a historic monument in 1970 . Lawrence Hall was built in Art Deco style by architects Easton and Robertson between 1925 and 1928 and was listed as a Historic Monument in 1983. Horticultural exhibitions used to take place here every two weeks, today mainly sporting events and business conferences. In 2018 the number of exhibitions in London was further reduced.
The RHS manages the Lindley Library , a specialist botany library at RHS headquarters in Vincent Square , London . It is based on the collection of the botanist John Lindley .
In the past, the Royal Horticultural Society has repeatedly funded expeditions to collect and classify plants. One of these expeditions was that of the German botanist Karl Theodor Hartweg from 1836 to 1843, during which he collected numerous fuchsias , among other things .
Periodicals and registers
The Royal Horticultural Society has published a monthly journal for its members since 1866 ( The Garden since 1975 ). She also publishes the quarterly The Plantsman and the bi- monthly Orchid Review . Hanburyana , a journal for taxonomy, appears annually .
The RHS maintains the international plant registers for conifers , clematis , daffodils , dahlias , lark spurs , carnations , lilies , orchids and rhododendrons .
position
Society today has a very old membership and its representatives are considered to be very conservative, even if the society has tried to modernize its image in recent years.
literature
- Jane Owen, Diarmuid Gavin: Gardens through time. London, BBC Books 2004.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jane Owen, Diarmuid Gavin, Gardens through time London, BBC Books 2004, p. 13.
- ↑ Jane Owen, Diarmuid Gavin, Gardens through time London, BBC Books 2004, 61-62.
- ↑ Jane Owen, Diarmuid Gavin, Gardens through time London, BBC Books 2004, 64.
- ↑ Jane Owen, Diarmuid Gavin, Gardens through time London, BBC Books 2004, p. 64.
- ↑ Jane Owen, Diarmuid Gavin, Gardens through time London, BBC Books 2004, p. 113.
- ↑ Jane Owen, Diarmuid Gavin, Gardens through time London, BBC Books 2004, p. 154.
- ↑ Jane Owen, Diarmuid Gavin, Gardens through time London, BBC Books 2004, p. 112.
- ↑ Jane Owen, Diarmuid Gavin, Gardens through time London, BBC Books 2004, p. 197.
- ↑ Carolyn Fry, A Passion for Plants. Behind the Scenes at the Royal Horticultural Society. London, BBC Books, p. 211.
- ^ Diana Ross, Gardeners, encounters with exceptional people. London, Francis Lincoln 2008, p. 155
