Plant and Tree Hunters

At home today. At the Edge of the Orchard  by Tracy Chevalier is my reading group book, to be read for the next meeting at the end of August. It concerns a 19th century plant and tree hunter called William Lobb who worked in North and South America on behalf of Veitch nurseries of Exeter.  Very enjoyable read, with local connections. I was pleased to find this little book on Veitch at Topsham Museum,which lists all the locations relating to Veitch. Not only that, it was free. William Lobb and his brother Thomas were the first collectors to be sent out by Veitch. His introduction of the monkey puzzle tree, and Wellingtonia, earned him the nickname ‘messenger of the big tree’. The novel uses Lobb and his work as a  background to the story of the book, which begins with apple trees.