Lee and Kennedy

Lee and Kennedy were two families of prominent Scottish nurserymen in partnership for three generations at the Vineyard Nursery in Hammersmith, west of London.

[7] The Duke of Argyll, an enthusiastic gardener who imported large numbers of exotic species of plants and trees for his estate, "continued [Lee's] education and gave him the free use of his library.

[14] According to Étienne Pierre Ventenat,[15] who named the Australian woody scrambler Kennedia to honor John Kennedy, the firm supplied roses for the Empress Josephine at Château de Malmaison during the lull in the Napoleonic Wars provided by the Peace of Amiens, 1802-03.

[17] With the revival of war between France and Britain, John Kennedy had a special permit to come and go to the Continent, advising the Empress on the collection she was forming at Malmaison.

Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna, young widow of the Duke of Oldenburg, made a point of visiting Lee and Kennedy's nursery grounds at Hammersmith, reputed to be a magnet for any garden-minded visitor.

John worked there between 1748 and 1771, (before moving on to Parlington Hall) and from 1750 regularly ordered trees and plants from his brother's nursery for the three walled pleasure garden the Salvin family had him create.

[22] From the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Lee and Kennedy had faced increasing competition, including Loddiges at Hackney, in the field of hardy new introductions of shrubs and trees.

He was also commissioned by Arabella, Duchess of Dorset to design a lakeside walk of shrubs and ornamental trees, complete with a boathouse, at Buckhurst Park, Sussex.

Among his legacies is the formal flower garden at Drummond Castle, for which he worked on the scheme with the architect and landscape designer Sir Charles Barry.