Shooting Stars

Today's the day ...................... to sow a seed

Peter Collinson (1693 - 1768) was a Quaker merchant who lived at Ridgeway House in Mill Hill, north London. He was also an avid and knowledgeable botanist and he used some of the profits from his thriving wholesale mercer's business to further his studies and his delight in nature - plants in particular.

His trade with the New World also gave him the opportunity to correspond with other enthusiasts there and to pester them for seeds and plants unknown at that time in this country. And perhaps his most assiduous and prolific correspondence was with John Bartram, a fellow Quaker and self-taught botanist from Pennsylvania. They became good friends and exchanged letters for over 35 years, yet they never met.

Peter Collinson received and distributed plants from all over the world, growing many in his own garden at Mill Hill - now a public School. Dodecatheon media - commonly known as Shooting star is one such plant that he received as seeds from John Bartram .....................