John Graeffer
Encyclopedia
John Graefer or Johann Andreas Graeffer (—7 August 1802) was a German-born botanist and nurseryman. Graeffer/Graefer is remembered by garden historians as having introduced a number of exotic plants to British gardens and to have worked for the king of Naples at the palace of Caserta.
Trained by Philip Miller
at the Chelsea Physic Garden
, London, one of the most prominent botanical garden
s of Europe during the 18th century, Graeffer was subsequently gardener to the Earl of Coventry
at Croome Court, Worcestershire, which was being landscaped by Capability Brown
, and then to James Vere, of Kensington Gore, a founder of the Royal Horticultural Society
Graeffer struck out on his own as a partner with Archibald Thompson and the prominent nurseryman James Gordon in Gordon's long-established Mile End
nursery near the New Globe, Stepney, just beyond the East End of London. After Gordon's retirement and his death in 1780, the nursery at Mile End was inherited by Gordon's three sons.
In August 1781, it was reported in L'ésprit des Journaux, that MM Grœffer et Bessel had been issued a royal patent (dated 30 December 1780) for their preparation of cooked and preserved vegetables for the Royal Navy
and the use of those on sea voyages; it was the first recorded patent for preserving vegetables by drying them. For that purpose, it was reported, they had purchased 200 arpents of land near the "nouvelle globe", Mile End, for plantings, which appears to be Gordon's long-established plant nursery. The patent was issued for preserving "a vegetable of the Brassica
kind, generally known by the name of green and brown borecole, scotch or other kale with a salt solution and drying so it will keep for up to a year."
Among Graeffer's introductions to British horticulture by far the most familiar was the variegated form of Aucuba japonica
, the loved and loathed "Spotted Laurel" of gardens, which he introduced to British horticulture in 1783, at first as a plant for a heated greenhouse; it became widely cultivated as the "Gold Plant" by 19th-century gardeners. According to John Claudius Loudon
he was also responsible for the introduction of Pyrus bollwylleriana, the Bollwyller pear, and P. baccata, the Siberian wild crab. Another of his introductions was Sideroxylon melanophleos
, from the Cape Province
, 1784.
Not all his introductions took: in 1783 Graeffer introduced Fumaria nobilis
, a little alpine plant native to the Altai in Siberia, but it was subsequently lost to horticulture and reintroduced; he catalogued 80 species of plants suitable for rock gardens in 1789. Graham Stewart Thomas who knew the 1794 edition, found it "certainly the first 'quick reference' book on alpines that I have come across: he gives full particulars of descriptions and cultivation in a tabulated list. I think he was entitled to claim: 'The Author proposes in his use of his great variety of Herbaceous Plants a more constant and uniform and gay Attraction of Gardens, than has been hitherto pointed out, or adopted'".
He also issued A Descriptive Catalogue of Upwards of Eleven Hundred Species and Varieties of Herbaceous Or Perennial Plants that same year.
In the 1790s Graeffer obtained a recommendation from Sir Joseph Banks, to be employed as head gardener to the king of Naples; at the royal palace of Caserta he introduced elements of the English landscape garden to the extensive formal plan, the Giardino Inglese instigated by Sir William Hamilton
, for King Ferdinand
, who eventually took an interest in it, after Sir William had urged Queen Maria Carolina
, as Hamilton reported to Banks from Caserta 22 April 1794, "that it would be a constant reproach to this country the having had by your goodness such a man as Graeffer for more than ten years without having had the least profit from his well known talents". A knowledgeable visitor, Sir James Edward Smith
, founder of the Linnean Society, has left an account of Graeffer's unsuccessful try at introducing the English taste:
With more success, Graeffer, who must have had plenty of time on his hands, published a catalogue of the plants at Caserta, Synopsis plantarum regii viridarii Caserti (Naples 1803).
In 1799, on Sir William Hamilton's suggestion, he became bailiff of Admiral Horatio Nelson's estate at Bronte, Sicily, where Graeffer was expected to reorganize the agriculture along progressive English lines; his extravagant ideas, however, consumed the income Nelson expected from the estate: to Lady Hamilton Nelson wrote "I hope Graeffer is going on so at Bronté; I am sure I take nothing from that estate.". Graeffer was murdered at Bronte in 1802.
Trained by Philip Miller
Philip Miller
Philip Miller FRS was a Scottish botanist.Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1722 until he was pressured to retire shortly before his death...
at the Chelsea Physic Garden
Chelsea Physic Garden
The Chelsea Physic Garden was established as the Apothecaries’ Garden in London, England in 1673. It is the second oldest botanical garden in Britain, after the University of Oxford Botanic Garden, which was founded in 1621.Its rock garden is the oldest English garden devoted to alpine plants...
, London, one of the most prominent botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
s of Europe during the 18th century, Graeffer was subsequently gardener to the Earl of Coventry
George Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry
George William Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry , known as Viscount Deerhurst from 1744 to 1751, was a British peer and Tory politician....
at Croome Court, Worcestershire, which was being landscaped by Capability Brown
Capability Brown
Lancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...
, and then to James Vere, of Kensington Gore, a founder of the Royal Horticultural Society
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
Graeffer struck out on his own as a partner with Archibald Thompson and the prominent nurseryman James Gordon in Gordon's long-established Mile End
Mile End
Mile End is an area within the East End of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross...
nursery near the New Globe, Stepney, just beyond the East End of London. After Gordon's retirement and his death in 1780, the nursery at Mile End was inherited by Gordon's three sons.
In August 1781, it was reported in L'ésprit des Journaux, that MM Grœffer et Bessel had been issued a royal patent (dated 30 December 1780) for their preparation of cooked and preserved vegetables for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and the use of those on sea voyages; it was the first recorded patent for preserving vegetables by drying them. For that purpose, it was reported, they had purchased 200 arpents of land near the "nouvelle globe", Mile End, for plantings, which appears to be Gordon's long-established plant nursery. The patent was issued for preserving "a vegetable of the Brassica
Brassica
Brassica is a genus of plants in the mustard family . The members of the genus may be collectively known either as cabbages, or as mustards...
kind, generally known by the name of green and brown borecole, scotch or other kale with a salt solution and drying so it will keep for up to a year."
Among Graeffer's introductions to British horticulture by far the most familiar was the variegated form of Aucuba japonica
Aucuba japonica
Aucuba japonica, the spotted laurel, is a shrub native to woods in lowland and mountains all over Japan and China. In rich forest soils of moist valleys, dense forests, thickets, by streams and near shaded moist rocks in China. The leaves are opposite, broad lanceolate, 5-8 cm long and...
, the loved and loathed "Spotted Laurel" of gardens, which he introduced to British horticulture in 1783, at first as a plant for a heated greenhouse; it became widely cultivated as the "Gold Plant" by 19th-century gardeners. According to John Claudius Loudon
John Claudius Loudon
John Claudius Loudon was a Scottish botanist, garden and cemetery designer, author and garden magazine editor.-Background:...
he was also responsible for the introduction of Pyrus bollwylleriana, the Bollwyller pear, and P. baccata, the Siberian wild crab. Another of his introductions was Sideroxylon melanophleos
Sideroxylon
Sideroxylon is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sapotaceae. There are about 70 species, collectively known as bully trees. The generic name is derived from the Greek words σιδηρος , meaning "iron", and ξύλον , meaning "wood."-Distribution:The genus is distributed mainly in the neotropics,...
, from the Cape Province
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa...
, 1784.
Not all his introductions took: in 1783 Graeffer introduced Fumaria nobilis
Fumaria
Fumaria is a genus of 50 species of annual plants, native to Europe, Africa and Asia, most diverse in the Mediterranean region, and introduced to North and South America and Australia. Fumaria indica contains the alkaloids fuyuziphine and alpha-hydrastine...
, a little alpine plant native to the Altai in Siberia, but it was subsequently lost to horticulture and reintroduced; he catalogued 80 species of plants suitable for rock gardens in 1789. Graham Stewart Thomas who knew the 1794 edition, found it "certainly the first 'quick reference' book on alpines that I have come across: he gives full particulars of descriptions and cultivation in a tabulated list. I think he was entitled to claim: 'The Author proposes in his use of his great variety of Herbaceous Plants a more constant and uniform and gay Attraction of Gardens, than has been hitherto pointed out, or adopted'".
He also issued A Descriptive Catalogue of Upwards of Eleven Hundred Species and Varieties of Herbaceous Or Perennial Plants that same year.
In the 1790s Graeffer obtained a recommendation from Sir Joseph Banks, to be employed as head gardener to the king of Naples; at the royal palace of Caserta he introduced elements of the English landscape garden to the extensive formal plan, the Giardino Inglese instigated by Sir William Hamilton
William Hamilton (diplomat)
Sir William Hamilton KB, PC, FRS was a Scottish diplomat, antiquarian, archaeologist and vulcanologist. After a short period as a Member of Parliament, he served as British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764 to 1800...
, for King Ferdinand
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
, who eventually took an interest in it, after Sir William had urged Queen Maria Carolina
Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her...
, as Hamilton reported to Banks from Caserta 22 April 1794, "that it would be a constant reproach to this country the having had by your goodness such a man as Graeffer for more than ten years without having had the least profit from his well known talents". A knowledgeable visitor, Sir James Edward Smith
James Edward Smith
Sir James Edward Smith was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society.Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He displayed a precocious interest in the natural world...
, founder of the Linnean Society, has left an account of Graeffer's unsuccessful try at introducing the English taste:
Mr Graeffer, a very ingenious gardener recommended to the queen of Naples by sir Joseph Banks, was then employed in laying out a garden for her majesty in the English taste, to which purpose a portion of ground was allotted nor far from the palace; but unluckily in full view of a stupendous brick wall , built with Herculean labour for the purpose of keeping the above-mentioned cascade in its place. No plantation whatever could conceal this glaring wall from any part of the garden; nor could any climbing plants reach near to its top. The ground was besides occupied by miserable olives, with scarcely a picturesque tree to turn to account. Nevertheless Mr. Graeffer had succeeded, we thought, wonderfully. He had formed some very pleasant lawns, interspersed with clumps of myrtle and other shrubs, and the whole wore a very promising appearance. But unfortunately none of the Neapolitans could see any kind of beauty in his performances, and they complained of his introducing so vulgar a thing as myrtle! The queen was much disposed to be pleased, but she could not stem the tide of opinion; nor did the king approve of the expense: so the whole was given up some time after.
With more success, Graeffer, who must have had plenty of time on his hands, published a catalogue of the plants at Caserta, Synopsis plantarum regii viridarii Caserti (Naples 1803).
In 1799, on Sir William Hamilton's suggestion, he became bailiff of Admiral Horatio Nelson's estate at Bronte, Sicily, where Graeffer was expected to reorganize the agriculture along progressive English lines; his extravagant ideas, however, consumed the income Nelson expected from the estate: to Lady Hamilton Nelson wrote "I hope Graeffer is going on so at Bronté; I am sure I take nothing from that estate.". Graeffer was murdered at Bronte in 1802.