Craze for Collecting

Were they intrepid explorers and suppliers of beauty and scientific advancement, or imperialist plunderers and destroyers of fragile environments? The reputation of plant-hunters as brave adventurers tracking down botanical wonders has taken something of a battering in recent years. Make your own mind up about their role and continuing importance as we share some plant-hunter stories in this new series. Learn about the exploits of the late-18th century ‘father’ of modern plant-hunting and the adventures of a once-celebrated woman who led botanical expeditions to the Andes. Hear tales from those who’ve followed in the footsteps of famous collectors, revisiting the native habitats of exotic plants which are now staples in the British garden. And ponder on ideas about the very different role of collectors today in plant conservation and public education.

Image: Selection of plants associated with the collectors in this series, all images public domain

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This ticket costs £35 for the entire course of 5 sessions, or you may purchase a ticket for individual sessions, costing £8 via the links below. [Gardens Trust members £26.25 or £6 each]

Ticket sales close 4 hours before the first talk

Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk (If you do not receive this link, please contact us), and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks.

Please scroll down below the links to see the full details of each talk.

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Week 1. 15th October: She Sleeps on a Volcano! Dora Stafford. First in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 2. 22nd October: Sir Joseph Banks. Second in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 3. 29th October: In the Footsteps of.. Third in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 4. 5th November: A mid-summer Expedition to Yunnan. Fourth in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 5. 12th November: Dispatches from the Cape. Last in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

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Week 1. 15 October: She Sleeps on a Volcano! Dora Stafford – tracking the forgotten plant hunter of Peru with Hamish MacGillivray

Amongst the famous plant-hunters that Britain produced the name of Dora Stafford is ignored. Yet, in the 1930s she managed a syndicate of wealthy collectors and botanical gardens to fund her expeditions to the Andes mountains, in southern Peru. Miss Stafford’s plant-hunting exploits made sensational headlines in newspapers and amazed readers in society magazines. A plant catalogue card from Highdown Gardens sparked a three-year investigation by the speaker into related archival materials: letters, newspapers and 90-year-old pressed flowers. Each piece contributing to a larger historical jigsaw of the remarkable Miss Stafford. Discover her other surprising horticultural/botanical links with Enfield, Kew Gardens and the alpaca trade from Arequipa in Peru. This is a work in progress.

After 20 years working in museum exhibitions, Hamish MacGillivray became a curatorial freelancer evolving into a story hunter. He now helps volunteer groups in south-east England discover hidden stories in archives or museum stores. He became fascinated exploring links between horticulture, botany and social history when working at Great Dixter House and Gardens and later for the National Trust (Chartwell), Highdown Gardens and Cranleigh Heritage Trust.

For more information, please visit https://www.acmemuseumservices.co.uk/about/

Image: Miss Stafford from a 1932 press article, photo used with permission from the Mary Evans Picture Library

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Week 2. 22 October: Sir Joseph Banks with Toby Musgrove

This talk will explore the plant-hunting escapades of Joseph Banks (1743 – 1820) and how from these he developed a new plant-hunting paradigm. It will explain this new approach and introduce some of ‘his’ plant-hunters, their works and discoveries.

With a degree in horticulture and a Ph.D. in garden history, both from Reading University, Toby Musgrave is an independent scholar, lecturer and author specialising in garden and plant history. His fifteenth book will be published by Phaidon in Spring 2026. Toby lives in Denmark where he gardens one of the historic De Runde Haver. He is also a submersible pilot.

For more information, please visit www.TobyMusgrave.com

Image: Bust of Sir Joseph Banks at Chelsea Physic Garden, photo by Victor Keegan on Flickr, public domain

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Week 3. 29 October: In the Footsteps of… with Toby Musgrave

An account of Toby’s experiences of following in the footsteps of two plant hunters: Sir Joseph Hooker (1817 – 1911) in the Himalayan wilds of northern Sikkim, India and George Forrest (1873 – 1932) amongst the dramatic landscape of the biodiversity hotspot of Yunnan Province, China.

With a degree in horticulture and a Ph.D. in garden history, both from Reading University, Toby Musgrave is an independent scholar, lecturer and author specialising in garden and plant history. His fifteenth book will be published by Phaidon in Spring 2026. Toby lives in Denmark where he gardens one of the historic De Runde Haver. He is also a submersible pilot.

For more information, please visit www.TobyMusgrave.com

Image: Plant-hunting above the Yangtze River ©Toby Musgrave

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Week 4. 5 November: A mid-summer Expedition to Yunnan with Seamus O’Brien

Yunnan province in western China is home to half of all China’s plant and animal species and 25 distinct ethnic groups. This lecture is based on an 18-day visit in June-July 2024 – peak flowering season during the height of the Indian monsoon – retracing routes taken by Captain Frank Kingdon Ward (1885 – 1958) in 1911 and 1913. From the ancient city of Lijiang, the lecture recounts visits to the Tibetan frontier region to see sacred peaks painted by the blossoms of rhododendrons and blue poppies, lakes fringed by meadows full of candelabra primulas and glades of giant Himalayan lilies beneath a diverse canopy of ancient trees.

Seamus O’Brien is Head Gardener at the National Botanic Gardens, Kilmacurragh, Co. Wicklow, the country estate and rural annex of the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin in Dublin. He received his formal horticultural training at Glasnevin and also holds an International Diploma in Botanic Gardens Management from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He has travelled extensively across the globe to study plants in their native habitats, most notably to China, Nepal, Tibet, California, Bhutan, Myanmar, Chile, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and, in more recent times to India, including successive trips to the Sikkim Himalaya. From these expeditions, he has published two award winning books; In the Footsteps of Augustine Henry and his Chinese collectors (Garden Art Press, 2011), and In the Footsteps of Joseph Dalton Hooker: A Sikkim Adventure (Kew Publishing, 2018).

Image: Black Dragon Pool Park, a Qing dynasty garden in Lijiang, photo ©Seamus O’Brien

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Week 5. 12 November: Dispatches from the Cape with Rupert Koopman

Dispatches from the Cape: A conservation and social perspective of the Fynbos Wildflower Trade and musings on the enduring impacts of the English Garden aesthetic in a global biodiversity hotspot

Proteas are iconic wildflowers from Africa (most diverse and prominent in the fynbos region) and globally beloved as cut flowers, but what are the social and environmental contexts of this trade in the Cape? In this talk, Rupert will explore some of the issues in his article with Prof Dave Bek in Protean Routes: Following the Commodification Chain of the Protea Flower between South Africa and the Netherlands (Dwaalstêr Editions, 2025).

Plus, as English gardens embrace more naturalistic planting and meadows are trendy, what are the consequences in places where the more formal style of gardening and landscaping is still entrenched?

Rupert Koopman is a fynbos-obsessed botanist based in Cape Town, South Africa who uses the flexibility of freelance work to protect and increase the appreciation of South Africa’s flora. Previous roles in both government and the NGO sector focussing on the protection of South Africa's plants, especially fynbos of the Cape, give him a good overview of the country's green wealth. Rupert's interests include SA's threatened plant species, citizen science, food plants, making plant conservation more relevant and accessible to a broader audience and participating in multidisciplinary projects. Being a qualified tour guide gives him a further platform to weave history, science and current affairs into a single narrative. I

For more information, please visit https://www.instagram.com/rk_ct/

Image: Proteas in the wild, ©Rupert Koopman

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