"And Some Brought Flowers" Plants in a New World

Originally published in 1980, 'and some brought flowers' partners 70 stunning full-colour watercolours of plants discovered by early travelers to North America with numerous excerpts from the writings of early explorers and settlers. Arranged in alphabetical order (from "Ash" to "Wintergreen") each entry is accompanied by botanical descriptions and historical quotations describing the plants and reflecting on their uses, both practical and aesthetic. The result is a fascinating history of North American gardening customs, of the professional botanists traveling along the paths of the pioneers and of the settlers who responded with both astonishment and practical common sense to the rich variety of plant species they saw before them. Contributors include Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Louis Hbert, Alexander Henry, John Franklin, Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe, and Catherine Parr Traill.