L’ILLUSTRATION HORTICOLE
Horticulture Illustrated (1854 – 1896)

L’Illustration Horticole, a monthly horticultural review, was founded in 1854 in Ghent, Belgium, by Ambroise Verschaffelt, a nurseryman who specialized in new plant introductions from South America. His editor for the venture was Charles Lemaire, the noted botanist and cactus enthusiast.

Some of the finest botanical artists in Europe contributed work to L’Illustration Horticole, which published full-page chromolithographs and woodblock illustrations. One of the magazine’s artists was Pieter de Pannemaeker, a prolific watercolor artist in Ghent who came from a long line of tapestry weavers. He contributed nearly 3000 of his illustrations to the botanical periodicals and publications of the time.

In addition to the sumptuous illustrations, L’Illustration Horticole aimed to satisfy the public’s demand for information about new plant introductions from abroad. It made note of new horticultural introductions and included plant descriptions and histories, and culture advice on exotic plants such as orchids, begonias, dahlias, yuccas, and palms. It also provided descriptions of garden layouts, information on botanical expeditions of the day, and accounts of new scholarly botanical works.

Exhibit Item 3

Yucca baccata
Banana yucca

Illustrator: Pieter De Pannemaeker
Lithographer: Louis-Constantin Stroobant, Ghent, Belgium.
L’Illustration Horticole: Revue Mensuelle Des Serres et Des Jardins
(Horticulture Illlustrated:
The Monthly Review of Greenhouses and Gardens)
Vol. 20, 1873
Plate 115

From the Collection of Richard and Patricia Wiedhopf