Mouth Watering Watercolors of Fruits

USDA collection
Hachia Roeding

The USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection has loads of beautiful watercolor fruits (Wikipedia with links to the collection) 

Search the collection. Captions are not all searchable so you have to (get to) look through them all. For example, Searching for Roeding does not pop up these persimmons and figs.

Selected here are fruits from (probably) Fancher Creek Nursery. Anything noted as Roeding would probably have been from his Fresno nursery - Fancher Creek Nurseries.

The "Old Adobe" Trademark of the California Nursery Company

 

The "Old Adobe" oranges were sold at the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939-1940. 

The "Old Adobe" trademark was filed in 1943. 

It first appeared as a small graphic in the 1940s catalog. And from then on it was frequently seen on stationary, shirt patches, and order forms. 

Montgomery Redwoods 2023 and 1894

We took a trip up to Montgomery Redwoods
for CGLHS convention field trip

One of Grace Hudson’s drawings with several preliminary sketches was on display at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah. They were for an Overland Monthly article during Milicent’s editorship - August & September 1892 “Staging in the Mendocino Redwoods part 1 & II”. 

 

Wikimedia

This photo appeared on JSTOR "Who Took the Cocaine out of Coca-Cola?" 

I can't take my eyes off that yellow rose in this Coca-Cola advertisement. If this was an advertisement from the 1890s what rose would that be? "Soleil d'Or" was introduced in 1900. Today we would not be surprised at seeing a yellow rose, but back then roses were generally white, pink, and red. Yellows and oranges came to the rose world after 1900. Perhaps the date on the advertisement is incorrect? Perhaps artistic license?

Hilda Clark is the model.

The preservation of the Armstrong Redwoods in Guerneville

Annals of Horticulture in North America
 for the Years 1889-1893

News in the nation in 1892

Big news in L.H. Bailey's Annals of Horticulture in North America..."A botanic garden for the preservation of California red woods has been established during the year by the donation in trust of 640 acres of red wood timber land in Sonoma county by Col JB Armstrong of Santa Rosa The tract is on the north bank of the Russian river The timber is in a good state of preservation The trustees of the garden are Miss Kate Armstrong daughter of the donor. E J Wickson, Charles H Shinn, Luther Burbank, and Robert U Johnson."

But was this premature news?

The Gnome-Mobile and Armstrong Redwoods and the Shinns

 

[No official pics to avoid Disney problems :O) ]

SOMEWHERE...while searching for the Shinn family's connection with the Armstrong Redwoods in Guerneville, I ran into a reference to the 1967 Disney movie, the Gnome-mobile. Being a fan of the Shinns and gnomes and the redwoods and vintage Disney, I had to find the movie.  

The original book, The Gnomobile: A Gnice Gnew Gnarrative with Gnonsense but Gnothing Gnaughty  was written in 1936 by Upton Sinclair !

The Walt Disney Museum wrote  "Celebrating 50 Years of Riding Along in the Gnome-Mobile" with the background. Upton Sinclair asked Walt to feature the Gnomobile in 1937 and he finally made a movie in 1967. But what inspired Sinclair to write the book in the first place? Kids? Grandkids? What was happening with lumbering in 1937? 

By the way, the Shinn connection was with getting the Armstrong Redwoods protected. A whole other story.

The Late James Shinn

From Pacific Rural Press, Volume 52, Number 20, 14 November 1896, is the obituary of James Shinn.

The Late James Shinn

A name which has an enduring place in the horticultural history of California is that of James Shinn, who died on his farm near Niles, Alameda county, Thursday, October 29, in his ninetieth year. Mr. Shinn was so widely known among the older readers of the Rural Press, and was so highly esteemed for his horticultural work and for the worth and graces of his character, that we are sure a sketch of his life will be welcomed in Rural circles.

Who was the Father of Palms in California?

Where did the statement that John Rock was the "Father of Palms in California" come from? Looks like here and has no references? "Rock is considered the "Father" of palm cultivation in California." 

This is the only place that I've ever heard this. And it doesn't ring true without any supporting docs. Maybe he was the grandson or great-grandson, but not the father.

"Niles Celebrity" - actor William Thorne - I am Batman!

From the 1946 Spanish language catalog

Who is the mystery man in the sombrero?

He is William L. Thorne, AKA "Uncle Bill" to the Roeding family, and part-time Niles resident.

William Thorne (1878-1948) was Elizabeth Thorne's brother.  That's George C. Roeding's wife, Elizabeth, and George C. Roeding Jr.'s "Uncle Bill."

Here are some scraps and bits from his life in an attempt to get the whole picture of his life. Always updated and fact-checked.

Victorian Gardens in the Washington Township

So what was a Victorian garden in the Washington Township? Where would they have gotten their plants? 

The mission gardens and orchards would have been a source of plant materials before the nurseries. E.J. Wickson wrote about the nurserymen in the 1850s to 1910. Until the first nurseries in the Washington Township, there were nurseries in San Jose. 

Luckily we had a local prolific writer, Charles Howard Shinn, who wrote about the old gardens of the area. He was editor for the California Horticulturalist and floral magazine for a couple of years (Check his wikipedia article for many more articles). 

The Shinn family had a nursery in the 1870s and 1880s and you can check out their "Shinn's Nurseries" catalog. They list the roses, ornamentals, and flowers that you could buy along with the fruit trees. They imported many plants from Japan.

Rock's Nurseries in San Jose was in business from 1865 to the late 1880s or 1890s. Pioneer nurseryman B.S. Fox was Rock's neighbor. (catalogs not online but available) Rock and his partners opened the California Nursery in 1884 and the California Nursery catalogs can be found online.

Rock's Nurseries after 1884

1887 San Jose Directory

There seems to be the general assumption that Rock's Nurseries was consolidated into the California Nursery right away in 1884. 

But it makes no sense that you would uproot all of your nursery stock in San Jose and move it to Niles. Wouldn't it make more sense to keep both properties and sell the Rock's Nurseries stock from both catalogs until there was no more? I have followed this transition for a while. There was a messy divorce in the midst of all of this and probably some issues with this break-up.
Lots of information can be gleaned from the San Jose Directories.

Lucy Shinn Smile

Lucy Ellen Shinn was just a black and white photo on the wall at Shinn House. We never never knew much about her and what kind of person she was.

She and her husband, James, raised five talented children, three who survived beyond into adulthood. Their childhoods spanned from the 1850s to 1880s during the time when Shinn's Nurseries was underway.

In 2020 we were fortunate to learn about Lucy from letters that she wrote to her daughter Millie. Kathryn Kasch, descendant of Lucy's oldest son, Charles Howard Shinn, spent many hours of her pandemic days transcribing 120 of Lucy's letters. The letters cover the span from 1873 to 1882. During this time, Millie was in grade school and then later in college, one of the first women admitted to the new University of California.  Millie later was the first woman to receive a PhD from UC Berkeley.

The 'Wickson Challenge' ... lost out

'Wickson Challenge' Plum

 This painting has a very faint writing on it - 'Wickson Challenge.' 

If you look that name up you find that 'Wickson Challenge' was renamed 'Formosa' and is a Burbank variety. So is this variety still around? And can you buy it?

The plum was front page news in the January 17, 1907 Pacific Rural Press and California Fruit Bulletin. 

Where did John Rock get his trees for his experimental orchards?

From the
Museum of Local History
scanned by California Revealed 

No Guessing Required! You can look it up!

This is one of many orchard records in the various archives around town. This is the only one scanned in so far - from the Museum of Local History. Thank you! It is possibly the first orchard record.

A quick look at the sources of the various fruits/nuts planted around 1887:

Many came from the nurseries of John Rock and R.D. Fox in the Santa Clara Valley.

Ellwanger & Barry was an old nursery in New York. According to George C. Roeding, John Rock worked there. Others came from his future Biggs fruit orchard partner A.T. Hatch.  Some came from the University. Some came from local orchards - Beard, Shinn, and maybe Curtner. Felix Gillet was a competitive nurseryman in the Sierra. The Quito orchard was in the Santa Clara Valley and is now a neighborhood. From Burbank, two old varieties of apples. The other names need some research to determine what the abbreviations mean. 

Imported from the East: New York, New Jersey, Delaware, 

Imported from Europe: Tosette? Joselyn? Rivers? Many are marked Imp. which I'm beginning to suspect that Imp. means imported and will confirm at a later date.

Visiting the Pernet-Ducher roses in 1912

The Pernet-Ducher family and the Pernetiana roses

What are Pernetiana roses? 

The Pernetiana roses was a category of roses introduced by the Pernet (Pernet-Ducher) family around 1900. It’s not officially a category any longer, like hybrid tea, polyantha, grandiflora, etc. But you will still see it mentioned.

Native Plants and the Association of Collegiate Alumnae in 1904

Stockton Record 17-Feb-1904

 One hundred and 17 years ago, the Association of Collegiate Alumnae encouraged people to use native trees and plants instead of foreign species. 

I posted this on the California Native Plant Society Facebook group and there was a mixed reaction of pride, surprise, and discouragement that we are still fighting this battle. The post was shared 25 times!

The Red Garden at the GGIE

 

From the nursery catalog, the Court of Flowers

So appropriate for this year, especially with the Mars Perseverence in the news...A Red Garden!

Was it in the Court of Flowers? or Court of Reflections? 

TO BE CONTINUED

California Nursery Company - 1884? or 1865?

Plastered all over the office building is
"California Nursery Co."
"Established 1865"
1919 Catalog

So many secondary references say that the California Nursery Company was established in 1865. Yet there are no primary references that agree with this date. 

Apparently there are papers for the incorporation of the California Nursery Company in 1884. Along with that goes stockholders? a board? etc.

But that is not the question. The question is when was the California Nursery Company established, perhaps as a private nursery. 

Try as I might, I cannot verify that there ever was a California Nursery Company that was established in 1865, even a company that was owned by someone else than John Rock.

Here's the sticky point. What is the 100th anniversary of the California Nursery Company? It was celebrated in 1965. 

Carl Purdy's Connections with Niles

From "Land of Sunshine", May 1901

Here we are not collecting flowers, but rather we are collecting Carl Purdy references! 

Our local author, Charles Howard Shinn, wrote about Carl Purdy several times. The Shinn women went to Ukiah to visit him. 

Purdy ordered plants from the California Nursery Company.

Lots of  local connections.

The Three Fig Cranks

"The Three Fig Cranks; July 17, 1900.
Niles. A.E. Schwarz, John Rock, G. Eisen."

.

The Three Fig Cranks would make a great title for a movie.

This picture is in two archives in Fremont - the California Nursery Historical Park and the Museum of Local History. The museum has the negative and on the envelope is this "The Three Fig Cranks; July 17, 1900. Niles. A.E. Schwarz, John Rock, G. Eisen."

This “Fig Cranks” photo led to some interesting documents that show a connection between California Nursery Company and Fancher Creek Nursery with the fig caprification experiments in 1900.