Carlow Garden Festival’s Alasdair Moore “La Mortola” In the Footsteps of Thomas Hanbury
Huntington Castle and Gardens Clonegal, Co. CarlowIn this compelling talk, gardener and writer Alasdair Moore traces Thomas Hanbury's remarkable life and passion for horticulture, examining how a young man from Clapham, London, formed the finest private plant collection of his generation, with over 5,000 rare and exotic plants from Africa and Asia alongside native Mediterranean flora. Overlooking the sea on the Franco/Italian Riviera, La Mortola remains one of the most famous botanical gardens in the world, a classic gardenesque style estate on a promontory overlooking the Mediterranean. Thomas Hanbury remains one of the outstanding figures of 19th-century horticulture, his legacy includes the gift of the gardens at Wisely to the Royal Horticultural Society.