Botany, Informal Empire and the Colonial Roots of British Gardens
This article investigates the practices of colonial science through a study of one plant collector working for the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, an institution of Britain’s informal empire in China. Further, the article situates this collector and his work in the context of the boom in popular g...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/11532 |
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| _version_ | 1846131918663319552 |
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| author | Frances O’Morchoe |
| author_facet | Frances O’Morchoe |
| author_sort | Frances O’Morchoe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article investigates the practices of colonial science through a study of one plant collector working for the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, an institution of Britain’s informal empire in China. Further, the article situates this collector and his work in the context of the boom in popular gardening in Britain at the time. Popular garden writing in the late 19th and early 20th century helped fold China’s temperate plants into the canon of “natural” British plants. I argue that garden writers used a “temperate imagination” to encourage readers to imagine the connections between their own gardens and the temperate realms of Britain’s empire. These authors, and the plants they described, helped bring empire home to amateur gardeners in Britain. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f82a00a5033b4973954bc1e9227b9a93 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0248-9015 2429-4373 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique |
| spelling | doaj-art-f82a00a5033b4973954bc1e9227b9a932024-12-09T15:26:05ZengCentre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation BritanniqueRevue Française de Civilisation Britannique0248-90152429-43732024-03-0129110.4000/rfcb.11532Botany, Informal Empire and the Colonial Roots of British GardensFrances O’MorchoeThis article investigates the practices of colonial science through a study of one plant collector working for the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, an institution of Britain’s informal empire in China. Further, the article situates this collector and his work in the context of the boom in popular gardening in Britain at the time. Popular garden writing in the late 19th and early 20th century helped fold China’s temperate plants into the canon of “natural” British plants. I argue that garden writers used a “temperate imagination” to encourage readers to imagine the connections between their own gardens and the temperate realms of Britain’s empire. These authors, and the plants they described, helped bring empire home to amateur gardeners in Britain.https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/11532ChinaBritaincolonial sciencebotanyinformal empireChinese Maritime Customs Service |
| spellingShingle | Frances O’Morchoe Botany, Informal Empire and the Colonial Roots of British Gardens Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique China Britain colonial science botany informal empire Chinese Maritime Customs Service |
| title | Botany, Informal Empire and the Colonial Roots of British Gardens |
| title_full | Botany, Informal Empire and the Colonial Roots of British Gardens |
| title_fullStr | Botany, Informal Empire and the Colonial Roots of British Gardens |
| title_full_unstemmed | Botany, Informal Empire and the Colonial Roots of British Gardens |
| title_short | Botany, Informal Empire and the Colonial Roots of British Gardens |
| title_sort | botany informal empire and the colonial roots of british gardens |
| topic | China Britain colonial science botany informal empire Chinese Maritime Customs Service |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/11532 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT francesomorchoe botanyinformalempireandthecolonialrootsofbritishgardens |