Barr Nurseries

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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 Gardens, 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. (see article in Florist & Pomologist 1884 with a partial list from his catalog) 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."

1862 catalog 1872 catalog

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For More Information on Historic Irises visit the HIPS website at http://historiciris.org/

-- BobPries - 2015-02-04