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1975-211, Trade Card
Alexander Bowie, NURSERY & SEEDSMAN, N.o 4, Edward Street, PORTMAN SQUARE.
1975-211, Trade Card

Alexander Bowie, NURSERY & SEEDSMAN, N.o 4, Edward Street, PORTMAN SQUARE.

Dateca. 1780
OriginEngland, London
MediumLine engraving on laid paper
DimensionsOverall: 2 1/2 × 3 5/8in. (6.4 × 9.2cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1975-211
DescriptionThe card reads: "The Public supplied with experienced Gardeners./ Alexander Bowie,/ NURSERY & SEEDSMAN,/ N.o 4, Edward Street,/ PORTMAN SQUARE./ And at his Nursery, Pedlars Acre,/ near Westminster Bridge./ Dealer in Hot House & Green house Plants/ Flower Roots, Russia Matts, &c./ Mushroom Spawn of Superior Quality."
Label TextThe interest in new plant species from distant lands and the popularity of ornamental gardens made the profession of nurseryman and seedsman a lucrative business.

By 1790 Peter Bellet, a Frenchman who called himself a florist, gardener, botanist, and seedsman, developed a successful commercial nursery in Williamsburg, supplying seeds and plants locally as well as to other parts of Virginia.