I was really pleased to see the theme this week - one close to my heart. Gardening is in my blood and in the blood of my ancestors. My great grandfather, a German botanist, came to Australia in 1851 and worked at the Melbourne Botanic Gardens as head plantsman and secretary to Ferdinand von Mueller, the Director of the gardens. E.B. Heyne drew up the plans for the Botanic Gardens.
He moved to Adelaide around 1860 and established a nursery and opened the first shop for seeds and plants in South Australia. He wrote regular articles for the 'South Australian Register' about the cultivation of forest trees, forage plants and pasture grasses.
In 1871 he published "The Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Garden" a book which ran into four editions and was the first of its kind in South Australia. He was a prolific writer and secretary to the Vignerons Club where his contribution to the wine industry was publicly acknowledged.
His son, Carl, graduated from Roseworthy Agricultural College, then took over the management of the shop and nursery. He had nine children. Below are the four oldest in front of the original nursery. at William Street Norwood. My mother moved back to live in this house in 1956. The house is still there, but no longer in the family as my mother had to sell it when she moved into a nursing home.
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| Site of the nursery around 1911. My mother is on the left. The family moved the nursery to Summertown in the Adelaide Hills, but later re- located to Beulah Park where the nursery is still situated, run by the fifth generation of the Heyne family. |
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| Part of the nursery in the thirties at Beulah Park |
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| My grandfather Carl and his van |
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| My grandfather Carl (CF Heyne) and his son FW (Wally) Heyne |
Wally and his wife Vera took over the nursery after the death of Carl in 1948 and the business passed on to his two younger sons, Roger and Gary and to their sons currently.
Heyne's Garden Centre and Wholesale nursery are flourishing under the fifth generation. Check out the link here.
Liz Needle - linking with "Sepia Saturday".
So great to hear of a family nursery/garden/landscaping business and have fabulous photos of them.
ReplyDeleteI had hoped to be in Melbourne in July and may well have made a visit to the Botanic Gardens, but Covid-19 put an end to those plans.
ReplyDeleteWonderful story and photos. A botanist in the family - that's just very interesting by itself, but to have a family business carrying on for that many generations is truly amazing. My husband used to be a commercial banker, and too often he witnessed the 2nd or 3rd generation killing the family business because they didn't understand it or they were filled with ego that prevented them from taking good advice.
ReplyDeleteThe business has a motto - "Our Business is Growing" and indeed it has. The younger generation have really expanded it and are doing amazing stuff.
DeleteYou don't see businesses being passed down through generations like this that much anymore. I'm sure it would be gratifying to your grandfather to see how far along his interest in gardening has come in the family! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed by this story of your family tree.
ReplyDeleteFascinating history, and I love the old photos!
ReplyDeleteWOW Liz what a fascinating story of your family history and how they came and established themselves adn their wonderful business in Australia, Grea. Thanks for all your comments, stay safe and have a great week ahead.t to have all these photographs of them and no wonder gardening is in your blood
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful rich heritage you have described, and to be able to capture it in a story is a wonderful gift for future generations
ReplyDeleteI can see why this prompt was right up your street and I enjoyed reading about your gardening ancestors.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous heritage and the photos to match.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that the family business survives. And such a wonderful business.
ReplyDeleteHow great to have something like a nursery passed down from one generation to the next! You certainly have some great photos to mark the transition. I particularly like the one of your grandfather Carl and his son, along with the 1948 nursery photo. Beautifully done!
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