© 2025. The Trustees of Indiana University
Copyright Complaints
1229 East Seventh Street, Bloomington, Indiana 47405
News, Arts and Culture from WFIU Public Radio and WTIU Public Television
Give Now
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Some web content from Indiana Public Media is unavailable during our transition to a new web publishing platform. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Capability Brown

  • Shaker seed display boxes, stacked.
    18th-Century Gardens
    LuAnn Johnson
    By the 18th century, it was fashionable in the colonies of North America where a garden was essential to feed a family.
  • Rosa 'Souvenir de la Malmaison', bred by Jean Béluze, 1843.
    Josephine’s Roses
    LuAnn Johnson
    Empress Josephine Bonaparte had the first European ever-blooming roses from China, and her eclectic collection allowed French hybridizers to create many new varieties.
  • Lancelot ('Capability') Brown by Nathaniel Dance, late 1770s.
    "Capability" Brown
    LuAnn Johnson
    Lancelot "Capability" Brown, landscaper to the rich and famous in 18th-century England, died in 1783. He advocated vistas that were "simple, uncluttered and restrained."