John Rea (died November 1681) was an English nursery gardener and writer.

Life

Rea lived at

Kinlet Kinlet is a small village and civil parish in the south-east of the county of Shropshire, England. The parish is on the northern edge of the Wyre Forest and is in the Bridgnorth District of Shropshire. The parish incorporates the hamlets of Kinl ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

. As a gardener he was reputed to have had the largest collection of

tulip Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm ...

s in England, to have introduced new plants, and to have planned the gardens at Gerard's Bromley,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, the seat of

Charles Gerard, 4th Baron Gerard Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

, to whose son he dedicated his ''Flora''. He corresponded with Sir Thomas Hanmer, 2nd Baronet, interested in gardening, and in particular in tulips; Hanmer commended Rea's ''Flora'' to

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's diary, or memo ...

, but thought him no scholar. Rea died in November 1681, bequeathing his holding at Kinlet to his daughter Minerva, wife of

Samuel Gilbert Samuel Gilbert (died ) was an English cleric, writer on horticulture, and floriculturist. Life Gilbert was chaplain to Jane, wife of Charles Gerard, 4th Baron Gerard of Gerards Bromley, and rector of Quatt in Shropshire. He seems to have lived ...

Works

Rea wrote ''Flora, seu de Florum Cultura, or a complete Florilege'', with a second title-page as ''Flora, Ceres, and Pomona, in III. Books'', London, 1665. A second impression, appeared in 1676 and was reissued, with a new title-page, in 1702.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Rea, John Year of birth missing 1681 deaths English gardeners English garden writers Writers from Shropshire English male non-fiction writers