PAT HOLT gives an insight to the collectors and explorers who help bring beautiful flowers to these shores from the four corners of the Earth...

THESE days, we can choose from such a vast range of plants to fill our homes and gardens that it's hard to imagine life without this wealth of leaves and flowers.

Yet we would not have this dazzling array of plants without the dedication of plant collectors, generations of intrepid explorers who visited remote corners of the world to find interesting new plants.

It's hard to believe that - long before the days of motor vehicles and air travel - people were prepared to endure long and arduous journeys by sea and on horseback, or even on foot, simply to collect plants.

Among the first of these plant hunters were the Tradescants, John Tradescant and his son of the same name, who travelled all over North Africa, Russia and America in the 17th century to bring back many of the plants, shrubs and trees which form the basis of our gardens today.

Such familiar garden flowers as crocus, jasmine, narcissus, lilac, monardas, lupins, coneflowers, tulip trees, Michaelmas daisies and Canadian aquilegias were all discovered and brought back by the Tradescants - not to mention the plant family which bears their name, the tradescantias.

All this is remembered at the Museum of Garden History in London, which is housed in a former church building, St Mary-at-Lambeth, which is on the south bank of the Thames, opposite the Houses of Parliament.

Appropriately, the tomb of the Tradescant family can be seen in the churchyard outside.

The two great plant hunters are also commemorated in the Tradescant Garden, a small but exquisite garden at the back of the museum.

This is a reconstruction of a 17th century royal garden, displaying many of the flowers and shrubs of the period, all arranged within a formal knot garden design.

A plaque records that all the plants were given by nurserymen from throughout the country in honour of the two pre-eminent 17th century plantsmen, who also became gardeners to King Charles I.

Many other aspects of garden history are recalled in the museum itself, which reopens this month after a period of extensive refurbishment.

The new displays tell a chronological story of garden history, tracing how gardens have been affected over the ages by fashion, art, culture and economics.

A programme of temporary exhibitions also continues this month with 'How Does Her Garden Grow?', which explores the role of professional women gardeners since the late 19th century.

It includes historic pictures, recording the work of inspirational women gardeners such as Gertrude Jekyll, Vita Sackville-West and many others.

It is strange to read that, in 1895, the first two female gardening students were taken on at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew. They were required to wear male clothing while at work, including flat caps and half-breeches.

This exhibition also explains how the two world wars increased the emancipation of women. In the horticultural sphere, they proved their worth by enrolling in their thousands in the Women's Land Army as "land girls", while "lumberjills" were recruited to fell trees for timber.

Now, of course, gardening and horticulture are generally regarded as careers equally suitable for men and women, and a collection of contemporary colour pictures by plant photographer Marianne Majerus reminds us of the work of many well-known modern women gardeners.

This small museum has its own caf offering light refreshments and a shop selling books and gifts. It is in a superb setting, next to the Thames and Archbishop's Park.

For details of bus or Under-ground connections, please call the museum on 020 7401 8865.

Bear in mind that the Museum of Garden History is close to a number of other South Bank attractions, all linked by the Thames path.

Within a half-hour walk you will find the London Eye, the London Aquarium, the Tate Modern, the Millennium Bridge, the Globe Theatre and the Royal Festival Hall. Visits to several of these could be combined to make a really full day out.

AT A GLANCE:

The Museum of Garden History is open daily from 10.30am to 5pm until December 16.

It will be closed during the second half of December and throughout the month of January reopening on February 1, 2003.

For more details please call 020 7401 8865.