Plant Hunters

The speaker at the Torquay Museum Society today was Caradoc Doy, a horticulturist, who has spent years researching the Veitch Nurseries of Exeter and Chelsea. His subject was the plant hunters William and Thomas Lobb, Cornishmen who travelled the world finding exotic plants and sending them back by sea in special cases. They  were just two of many who were away from home for years doing this dangerous job. Pictured is the giant sequoia. William Lobb collected seed, shoots, and seedlings. In less than two years these would give rise to thousands of saplings, snatched up by wealthy Victorians to adorn great British estates. Caradoc illustrated his talk with many examples of plants and flowers that were introduced by the Lobb brothers, sold by Veitch, that are now common in our gardens.