Theodore Payne collection
Finding aid created by California Botanic Garden staff using RecordEXPRESS
California Botanic Garden
2021
1500 N College Avenue
Claremont, California 91711
(909) 625-8767
info@calbg.org
https://www.calbg.org/
Title: Theodore Payne collection
Dates: 1909-2003
Collection Number: MS.7
Creator/Collector:
Payne, Theodore, 1872-1963
Extent: 1.0 linear foot (1 box)
Repository:
California Botanic Garden
Claremont, California 91711
Abstract: The collection contains Theodore Payne nursery catalogs; pricelists; plant and seed lists; articles and pamphlets authored
by Payne for magazines and newsletters; and correspondence with Susanna Bixby Bryant and staff of California Botanic Garden.
Language of Material: English
The collection is open to research.
The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator.
Theodore Payne collection. California Botanic Garden
The materials in the Theodore Payne collection were collected by the founder of California Botanic Garden Susanna Bixby Bryant,
and former Executive Director, Dr. Philip A. Munz.
Biography/Administrative History
Born in 1872 in England, Theodore Payne was trained in the nursery and seed business at J. Cheal & Sons Company and gained
familiarity with California native plants at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. In 1893, Payne immigrated to the United States
and became the head gardener at the ranch of Madame Helena Modjeska in Santiago Canyon, Orange County, California. In 1896,
Payne left the ranch and was employed as flower seedsman for the Germain Fruit and Seed Company in Los Angeles. Payne was
responsible for Germain’s flower, tree, and palm seed department; his duties included preparing the annual catalog of seed
offerings.
In 1903, Payne purchased property at 440 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, and started his own nursery business with a special focus
on California native plants and wildflowers, where he produced numerous plant and seed catalogs. Payne became concerned with
the loss of native habitat due to housing developments and began to campaign to preserve California native plants. He developed
a five acre native plant garden in Los Angeles, assisted Susanna Bixby Bryant with the creation of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic
Garden (now California Botanic Garden) in Orange County, and was involved in the development of a native plant section of
Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge.
Payne died in Glendale, California in 1963.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection contains the nursery and seed catalogs, articles, and correspondence of nurseryman Theodore Payne with Rancho
Santa Ana Botanic Garden (California Botanic Garden) founder Susanna Bixby Bryant and Executive Director, Philip A. Munz.
The materials cover his mid- to late career in California. Major topics include California botany, horticulture, seeds, native
plant conservation, and wildflowers. The nursery catalogs in this collection span from 1909 to 1972. Also included are reprints
of articles authored by Payne and published in Golden Gardens and other publications and assorted plant and price lists.
Native plant gardens
Nursery growers
Horticulture
Sales catalogs
Printed ephemera
Correspondence