Peony Breeder  

Listing last updated on Sun Aug 2024

Antwerpen, Flemish Region
Belgium

Charles van Geert, père
Charles van Geert, fils (1817-1896), his son
nurserymen, breeder of azaleas, peonies, verbenas, violets and other herbaceous plants


Charles van Geert was the descendant of a nursery family from Ghent. In 1829 he established his own nursery in Borgerhout, Antwerpen. His son, also Charles van Geert, leased land at the new railway station Kalmthout. Ch. van Geert jun. died 1896. The Arboretum Kalmthout is still in existence.

[From Revue horticole, 1897, p. 30:] Un des horticulteurs les plus justement estimés de la Belgique et dont les relations internationales étaient considérables, M. Charles Van Geert, horticulteur à Anvers, vient de mourir à l'âge de 80 ans. 

Relatives in Ghent:
[From The Gardener's Monthly and Horticulturist, January 1887, p. 27:] We greatly regret to have to announce the death of one of the famous horticulturists of Ghent, Auguste van Geert, who died, somewhat suddenly, on November 24, at the age of 68. M. van Geert was one of the founders of Ghent horticulture. He was the son of Jean van Geert, the associate of Verschaffelt and van Houtte. Auguste van Geert at the early age of twelve years entered the establishment of Messrs. Knight & Perry at Chelsea, the predecessors of the Messrs. Veitch, and soon entered into relations with the Loddiges, the Rollissons, the Lows, and other famous English horticulturists of the day. Scarcely more than a fortnight since Auguste van Geert took part, in apparently good health, in the jubillee festival of his son-in-law, Edouard Pynaert. M. Auguste van Geert had been ailing for some years, but his sudden death has come as a surprise and a profound grief to his friends. Of late years M. van Geert took great interest in the culture of orchids, of which he had a large private collection. M. van Geert occupied a foremost place in Belgian horticulture,