In Bloom at the Ashmolean

As a gardener and gardening journalist, plants are really important to me. However, their impact goes far beyond back gardens and horticultural features. I’ve just been to the launch of In Bloom, a new exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford that explores “how plants change our world”.

The exhibition, which has drawn on collections from across Oxford’s museums, libraries and university colleges, charts how plants have influenced us from the first plant collectors to contemporary art.

We were shown around by co-curators Francesca Leoni and Shailendra Bhandare who together have brought together an array of artefacts that illustrate how our relationship with Nature has changed from curiosity to exploitation.

In Bloom begins with the planthunters and, notably, John Tradescant the Elder and John Tradescant the Younger, 17th century gardeners and collectors of both plants and ‘curiosities’ – their work formed the basis of the Ashmolean’s collections.

We learned about the global history of some of Britain’s best loved blooms and discovered how a network of relationships was behind gardens and plant collecting at that time.

The exhibition examines how plants were documented, both through paintings, botanical drawings and models used in botanical teaching as exploration moved into spreading knowledge.

There’s a look at the various ‘plant crazes’, including tulip mania and the Victorians’ passion for ferns, among others, with paintings and sensory exhibits, including the scent of roses.

Gradually, the exhibition moves into the increasing commercialisation of plants from poppies’ use as both a medicinal and recreational drug – and the resulting Opium Wars – to the production of rubber.

The final stages of In Bloom look at art and nature featuring the work of several contemporary women artists.

Anahita Norouzi explores how the commercialisation of plants has led to natural loss. Her glass and brass installation, based on Iris barnumiae subsp demawendica from northern Iran, reflects how breeding has altered the flower’s qualities and erased traditional, cultural associations.

Kate Friend has captured the beauty of plants with huge, eye-catching botanical photographs.

Meanwhile, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg’s tapestry shows us how our gardens look to pollinators.

Justine Smith highlights plants that are often thought of as weeds, such as ox-eye daisies and bindweed, but which are important ecologically. Her delicate installations are made from old bank notes.

In Bloom began with Oxford and, fittingly, ends with how nature continues to shape the city. A series of portraits by Fran Monks shows members of Oxford University whose research work with plants is still changing our world.

In Bloom runs at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, until August 16, 2026. Details on the website.

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