See New TB Image Gallery

*
  

Barr & Sons

London, England

The 1939 checklist notes "(Nurseries at Taplow, Bucks). Founded in 1860 by Peter Barr, V.M.H. (1825-1909) under the name of Barr & Sugdon at 12, 13, King St., Covent Gardent, with nurseries at Garret Lane near Tooting, Surrey. Peter Barr was the son of a Scottish mill-owner who, a keen amateur horticulturalist, inspired his son to take up horticulture as a profession. The firm name was changed in 1882 to Barr & Sons and the nurseries were moved to Long Ditton, Surrey and in 1911 to Taplow, Bucks, with additional acreage at Penrhyn, Cornwall (for bulbs).

Peter Barr, more than any other one man, was responsible for the modern popularity of the Daffodil but he also had a fine collection of Irises and was apparently the first to classify the Tall-Bearded varieties into the sections, pallida, variegata, amoena, neglecta and squalens. This classification was continued for more than thirty years and only became obsolete about 1920. Many of the finest French Irises were imported and introduced by the Barr firm in the 1870s and 1880s to the British public and hence to America. Peter Barr who recieved the Victoria Medal of Honor in 1897, was an authority also on Hellebores and Primroses, with the largest collections to be found of those plants. He traveled extensively collecting rare plants, one world journey taking seven years. He died at Kirn, near Dunoon, Scotland at the age of 75 apparently hale and hearty to the last.

His son Peter Rudolph Barr, V.M.H. (1861- ) entered the business in 1878 after study in Holland which included the culture of bulbous plants embracing those of South Africa. At Barr's nursery he made a close study of all types of Irises, Single Peonies and Hellebores and did much hybridizing of daffodils, producing the first large fine white trumpet, 'Peter Barr'. He recieved the Peter Barr Memorial Cup of the R.H.S. 1913 and in 1931, the Victoria Medal of Honour. He broke down in health in 1920 from overwork and no longer takes and active part in the business but spends much time cultivating rare hardy plants in his private garden.

Articles about the Barr Garden: Gard. Chron. 1895. Also article in Florist & Pomologist 1884 which demostrates the color classification system created by Barr in his catalog

Registrations/Introductions:

Minature Dwarf Bearded: 'Auera Maculata', 'Burgundy', 'Count Andrassy', 'Dutton Purple', 'Elegance', 'Goldfinch', 'Lutescens Aurea', 'Mrs. H. M. White', 'Miss Owen, 'Orange Queen', 'Sulphurea Pallida',

Intermediate Bearded: 'Abdul Aziz', 'Arnols', 'Crimson King', 'Florence Barr', 'Jean Sisley', 'John Fraser', 'Kharput', 'Marenco', 'Osiris',

Japanese: 'Aimi', 'Bangkok', 'Barr Purple East', 'Dresden China, 'Ho O Jo', 'Paulus Moreelse.

Siberian: 'Blue King', 'Distinction', 'Emperor', 'Snow Queen', 'Superba'.

Species: 'Alata Alba', 'Blue Beauty', 'China Bue', 'Hansoni', , 'Taplow Violet'.

Spuria: 'A. J. Balfour', 'Lord Wolsely', 'Monspur Cambridge Blue', 'Ochroleuca Gigantea', 'Ochroleuca Innocence', 'Ochroleuca Queen Victoria', 'Ochroleuca Snowflake', 'Ochroleuca Warei', 'Premier,

Tall Bearded: 'Ada', 'Albatross', 'Albert Victor', 'Alice Barr', 'Athos', 'Avenger', 'Beauty', 'Beethoven', 'Big Medicine. 'Black Panther', 'Brengwain, 'Bronze Beauty', 'Canova', 'Chandos', 'Colorado', 'Coronach', 'Cottage Maid', 'Dalkish', 'Dandy', 'Duchess Of York, 'Duchesse De Chateaufort', 'Elspeth', 'Empress of India, 'Falconer', 'Fanfare', 'Florence Wells', 'Forfar', 'Garibaldi', 'Guinevere', 'Harrison Weir', 'Kathleen', 'Khedive', 'Lac Leman', 'Lago Di Garda', 'Latona', 'Lee Leman', 'Leonidas', 'Linkman', 'Lord Mayor', 'Lord Rosse', 'Macbeth', 'Marie Corelli', 'Mitylene', 'Nydia', 'Perfection', 'Princess Beatrice', 'Queen Alexandra', 'Robert Burns', 'Ruberima', 'Salar Jung', 'Sarchedon', 'Solario', 'Sonia', 'White Slave'.

-- Main.RPries - 2012-02-21
Topic revision: r34 - 20 Jan 2022, BobPries
This site is powered by FoswikiCopyright © by the contributing authors. All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors.
Ideas, requests, problems regarding Iris Wiki? Send feedback