NORTHERN IRELAND HERITAGE GARDENS TRUST OCCASIONAL PAPER, no. 8 (2016)

A listing of plants cultivated between 1807 and 1825 by John Templeton (1766–1825) at Cranmore, Malone, Belfast by E. Charles Nelson

"Thoughtful, observant, enquiring,
he reasoned out horticultural techniques for himself
from what he knew about Ireland's native plants."

Born in Belfast in 1766, John Templeton began to take an interest in gardening when he was about 20 years old "and soon made his flower-garden an object of attention". In 1793, according to his biographer, Templeton laid out an experimental garden in what was formerly an orchard and osiery. A stream was redirected to pass through the new garden; this probably formed the serpentine pond that survived long after John Templeton's death. A rock-garden was created. Into this place Templeton brought "from various parts of the world, rare and useful plants, which he endeavoured to naturalize in this climate". That is the nub of his pioneering horticulture.

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