A Passion for Plants: The Treseders of Truro - Hardcover

'This is a book that sets out to be the history of a business dynasty. It ends up as much more than that. As the Treseders zoom around the world collecting and exporting and designing, the reader's jaw drops. As they swap English acorns for tree ferns with Sir Philip Fysh, Governor of Tasmania, the jaw starts to swing. As they conspire with Cecil Nice, the Queen's tame magnolia fiend, the head begins to shake in wonderment. Of the fifteen books in print with this or a similar title, this is the one that best justifies its claim to passion. ... it hides the soul of a romantic novel.' (Sam Llewellyn in The Eden Project Friends Magazine, no. 17, Winter 2004) '... the great nineteenth century diaspora took the Treseders to Australia, the source of so many plants which came to our shores as a result of that journey. At one time Treseders were one of the great suppliers of exotic plants in the United Kingdom, rivalling Veitch's of Exeter. Through generations they were leaders in their field ... theirs is no ordinary story.' (Old Cornwall, vol. XIII, no. 4, Spring 2005) 'Whilst a fascinating account of the rise and demise of a prominent Cornish nursery, it is the particular connection with Australia that garden historians in Australia will find of interest in this book. '... the Australian story ... is placed within the context of the career of a family with members that are to this day, gripped by a passion for plants.' (Australian Garden History, vol. 17, no. 3, January 2006)

The Treseders of Truro were responsible for the commercial introduction of the tree fern, and other Australasian plants. For over 50 years their nurseries had one of the largest collections of ornamental plants in the UK. Suzanne Treseder tells the story of her family's passion for plants. In 1857 three brothers left Cornwall for Australia in search of gold. One of them, John Garland Treseder, took with him vegetable seeds, and started a market garden. Soon there were nurseries, and a shop in Sydney, and John Treseder designed parks and gardens in New South Wales and Victoria. Returning to Cornwall, he imported some of the first in a long line of commercial introductions of Australasian plants, including the tree fern, Dicksonia antarctica, cordyline, phormium, eucalyptus, mimosa and pittosporum. Soon Treseders' Nurseries were exporting these plants world-wide, to customers keen to acquire new, unusual plants. For over 50 years Treseders' Nurseries carried one of the largest collections of ornamental plants in the UK. In Cornwall, and beyond, they landscaped railway stations, hotel and private gardens, feeding the overwhelming appetite for acclimatized exotics. In the mid-twentieth century, Neil Garland Treseder was the first person to appreciate the commercial importance of camellias, and in the 1960s Treseders' catalogue featured 250 different varieties. Neil Treseder wrote extensively and authoritatively on camellias and magnolias. He named over 60 plants - many of which received the RHS Award of Garden Merit - and reflected that 'I wouldn't change my vocation. It's the most exciting and spiritually rewarding occupation in the world.' Suzanne Treseder is the daughter of Neil Garland Treseder. Here she tells the story of her family's passion for plants.