St Helena: Napoleon’s Garden Island
Though only 10 miles by five, the remote British dependency island of St Helena has an extraordinary botanical history. Lying in the path of the trade winds on the homeward voyage of the East India Company’s fleets from Asia, St Helena became a refreshment station and military bastion and also the resting site for exotic plants from Asia and Africa en route to Europe and sometimes (as with Captain Bligh's ‘floating garden’) to the West Indies. Many plants remain on St Helena, making it today an island botanic garden.
This Linnean Society talk by Donal McCracken examines that saga and the interlinked roles of the island’s public Botanic Garden, Castle Gardens and Plantation House Garden as well as the lush private gardens around Georgian farm houses.
Time: 18:00 GMT
