‘Cherry’ Ingram is the amazing story of the Englishman who saved Japan’s cherry blossoms. Collingwood Ingram was born in 1880. As a young man, he travelled to japan and learned about sakura, the amazing cherry blossom. After witnessing frightening changes back home in 1926, he began sending rare varieties from his own English garden to Japan, with an network of ‘cherry guardians’. This eloquent portrait of an extraordinary man, shows that the legacy that Japanese and English people enjoy each spring, is all down to this one man. Let him take his unsung place in botanic history.
After visiting Japan in 1902 and 197, Collingwood discovered 2 magnificent cherry trees in the garden of his family home in Kent. In 1919, he dedicated much of his life to their cultivation and preservation. Whilst visiting Japan in 1926, he was shocked to find so little diversity. He had a prime example of the best native Japanese cherry tree in his garden, so decided to return it to its native home. Today, Japanese cherry blossom is revered the world over, and it’s mostly thanks to this man from Kent!
A portrait of great charm & sophistication. Christopher Harding, Guardian
