Directory
of botanists, plantsmen, landscapers, gardeners and writers of note
The people described below are
part of our garden heritage. There are plant hunters, landscape
and garden designers, authors of books on gardening down the ages,
botanists, garden owners and others with close associations with
gardens and gardening. There are links to some of my website's garden
pages, so the trail and influence of personalities may be followed.
It will be necessary to use your browser Back button to navigate
among some of the pages.
Of course we welcome further substantiated biographical details
of any of these people of the past, including many not yet listed.
Please e-mail referenced inaccuracies, details and suggestions to
tony@sissons.demon.co.uk.
Abel, Dr Clarke (1780-1826)
Dr Abel visited Peking in a diplomatic mission, reported the Chinese
elm and introduced the ornamental apricot and the shrub abelia
to Britain.
Aberconway,
Henry Duncan, 2nd Baron (1879-1953)
Encouraged by his mother, Laura, the first Lady Aberconway, the
Second Baron Aberconway developed the magnificent gardens of Bodnant
in North Wales over 50 years from 1901. Assisted over most of this
time, as head gardeners, by three successive generations of the
Puddle family. Lord Aberconway subscribed to many plant hunting
expeditions and hybridised rhododendrons and other plants, many
of which have gained worldwide fame.
Abercrombie,
Thomas
Thomas Abercrombie entered the service of Sir James Douglas and
married a relative of his employer. He came to England and established
a nursery at Hackney. His first book, Every Man his own Gardener,
was published in 1767, but fearing it might be a failure, he paid
Thomas Mawe (gardener to the Duke of Leeds) to put his name on the
title page, although Mawe is alleged to have contributed nothing.
Abraham,
Robert
Builder of the pagoda at Alton Towers in Staffordshire in 1827.
Adam,
Robert (1728-1792)
One of four Scottish brothers, sons of the architect William Adam.
Robert
Adam developed a characteristic style in planning, decoration
and furniture. The towered and turreted gothic Culzean Castle in
Strathclyde is a monument to his unity of design. His achievements
in interior design include Osterley Park and Syon House in Middlesex;
Keddleston Hall in Derbyshire; Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire; Kenwood;
the mausoleum at Bowood in Wiltshire, Harewood House and Newby
Hall in Yorkshire and Mellerstain
in the Scottish Borders.
Aislabie,
John (d1742)
Member of Parliament, Chancellor of the Exchequer and victim of
the South Sea Bubble, John Aislabie inherited the Studley Royal
estate in North Yorkshire in 1699. He designed the moon-ponds around1725.
He was one of the first to bring natural landscape into the garden,
but unlike the later 'Capability' Brown, he contained it behind
large yew hedges. His grand design for the gardens was to include
the ruins of Fountains Abbey, but he had to make do with the view.
Only when his neighbour died was his son William able to buy the
ruins and complete the plan for the green-garden of Studley
Royal.
Akbar,
Emperor (1556-1605)
Akbar the Great, Mogul emperor of India and garden lover. Buried
in a garden tomb at Sikandra near Agra.
Alberti,
Leone Battista (1404-1472)
Early Renaissance architectural author and garden designer. Designed
the Florentine Palace of Giovanni Rucellai in 1446. He wrote Del
Governo della Famiglia and De re aedificatoria extolling the
virtues of rural life.
Aram,
Peter
Apprentice of London and Wise,
Peter Aram is associated with the original formal garden layout,
as head gardener at Newby
Hall in North Yorkshire, at the end of the 17th century.
Babur, Emperor (1483-1530)
Garden-making Mogul emperor. His tomb is in a garden, Bagh-i Babur,
in Kabul.
Backhouse,
James (1794-1869)
York nurseryman, botanist and Quaker missionary, James Backhouse
travelled the Highlands of Scotland in search of rock plants. He
undertook a tour of Australia in 1813 and South Africa in 1838-40,
collecting seeds and bulbs for W.J.Hooker
at Kew and for Backhouse Nursery at Acomb. He also travelled to
Norway in 1853 and 1860 on Quaker missionary journeys. His journals
from the two journeys, which brought him all along the coast to
the very North of Norway, are full of botanical descriptions. He
also sent plant specimens home to England. His journals are in the
library of Friends House, Euston Road, London. Begonia sutherlandii
flowered for the first time in Britain in his nursery in
1867.
Bacon,
Sir Francis (1561-1626)
Sir Francis, the English philosopher, inherited his father's estate
at Gorhambury in Hertfordshire in 1602. He gardened here extensively
and his notes outlining a scheme to make a four-acre water garden
exist in the British Museum. Bacon's garden has gone, but his essay
'Of Gardens', published in 1625, a year before his death,
remains as a delightful monument to his enthusiasm, though not to
the clarity of his presentation.
Banks,
Sir Joseph (1744-1820)
President of the Royal Society for over 40 years, Joseph Banks was
a wealthy amateur scientist who accompanied Captain Cook on his
1768-76 expedition to the Pacific. He financed the botanical side
of the expedition to the tune of £10,000. Appointed horticultural
and botanical advisor to Kew
Gardens in 1771, Sir Joseph was patron of plant collectors Francis
Masson, William Kerr, James Bowsie and Alan Cunningham. (species
associated with him include the name 'banksii'). A
large archive of Sir
Joseph's work is to be found at the National History Museum
website.
Barry,
Sir Charles (1795-1860)
A leading Victorian architect who designed the Houses of Parliament
(London) and laid out the terrace at Harewood House, Yorkshire (1840s),
the gardens at Dunrobin Castle, Sutherland (1850), and two Italian
gardens at Trentham, Staffordshire and Shrubland Hall, Suffolk (late
1840s).
Bartram,
John (1699-1777)
Born in Darby, Pensylvania, son of John Bartram a Quaker farmer,
he became Chief Botanist of the American colonies and was the founder
in 1728 of the Philadelphia Botanical Garden at Kingsessing. John
Bartram was the first native American botanist. He was responsible,
through his correspondence with Peter Collinson, for introducing
many American trees to Europe. Although he never visited Britain,
in 1765 he was appointed Botanist to King George III. Linnaeus
called him 'the worlds greatest botanist'. Bartramia,
a genus of mosses is named in his honour. His son William accompanied
him on some of his journeys and documented plants, animals and native
peoples of North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. He published
a series of writings with charming illustrations in 1791 under the
name Travels, which influenced the 19th century romantic
movement. Some of his drawings are held by the British Museum of
Natural History.
Beauharnais,
Josephine de (1763-1814)
Born de la Pagerie, Josephine married the Vicomte de Beauharnais
and then Napoleon I, from whom she was divorced in 1809. Empress
Josephine gathered a famous nineteenth century collection of roses
at the Château de Malmaison. The roses she collected may still
be seen at l"Haÿ-les-Roses
in Paris.
Beaumont,
Guillaume
Designer of the late 17th century exotic topiary garden at Levens
Hall, Cumbria, between 1690 and 1720.
Blaikie,
Thomas (1758-1838)
One of the most remarkable gardeners of the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries, Thomas Blaikie, was a Scotsman who spent
the greater part of his life in France. He is chiefly noted for
the fact that he laid out the gardens of Malmaison for the Empress
Josephine. He was sent abroad in 1775 by Dr Fothergill (who
had remarkable botanic gardens at Upton near Stratford.) and Dr
Pitcairn, to search for rare alpine plants in Switzerland. After
a sojourn in Switzerland he entered the service of the Comte de
Lauraguais, then that of the Comte d'Artois, and worked under the
latter's architect, Belanger.
Thomas Blaikie made the original plan for the remarkable garden
at Bagatelle.
In 1822 he retired to St Germain where he had a garden of about
forty acres.
John
Blackburne (1694-1786)
One of the most influential plantsmen in the North of England in
the 18th century, John Blackburne was a wealthy landowner and owner
of a saltworks in Liverpool who built extensive hothouses at his
residence at Orford Hall near Warrington. The first to fruit pineapples
in Lancashire, Blackburne maintained a large collection of succulent
plants which were partly obtained from Lord Petre of Thorndon Hall,
Essex. James Bolton, the Yorkshire botanical artist, praised his
" extensive collection of rare and valuable plants in a rich
and beautiful garden ". His name, and that of his daughter
Anna, is commemorated by the fan palm Sabal blackburniana.
Blomfield,
Sir Reginald (1856-1942)
In his book Formal Garden in England (1892) he urged a return
to simpler architectural formalities of Renaissance and seventeenth
century gardens. Designed terrace garden at Mellerstain
in the Scottish Borders and Sulgrave Manor garden.
Bramante,
Donato (c.1444-1514)
Renaissance architect and garden designer who designed the Cortile
del Belvedere at St Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Bridgeman,
Charles (d1738)
He worked on a massive scale, creating gardens that used the grass-clad
shape of the land itself. The invention of the ha-ha is attributed
to Bridgeman. His designs were used at Claremont (ampitheatre),
Rousham Hall, Blenheim, Stowe, Wimpole Hall, Wolterton Park and
in Kensington Gardens in London.
Brown,
Lancelot ('Capability') (1716-1782)
Capability Brown (This name was bestowed on him due to his habit
of saying that a place had great "capabilities") began
life as an under-gardener in Lord Cobham's service, and he subsequently
became head gardener to the Duke of Grafton, and then head gardener
at Hampton Court.
The famous vine there is said to have been planted by him. His influence
was great, and owing to him, hundreds of fine old gardens were destroyed
to make "landscapes".
His designs were used at Blenheim Palace, Bowood, Chatsworth (Derbyshire),
Chilham Castle, Claremont, Clumber park, Croome (Worcestershire),
Euston Hall, Harewood House (Yorkshire), Luton Hoo, Sheffield Park,
Stowe (Buckinghamshire), Syon Park (Middlesex), Warwick Castle,
Wimpole Hall, Wrest Park.
Buchanan,
John
Missionary collector in Central Africa. He was sent as agriculturist
to the Church of Scotland Mission to Nyassaland in 1876. He sent
over 1,000 dried specimens to Kew, besides introducing various plants.
Candolle, Augustin-Pyramus
de (1778-1841)
Swiss professor of Botany at Montpelier in 1808. Published Plantarum
Historia Succulentarum, Astragologia and other works.
Cane,
Percy (1881-1976)
An artist, architect and writer over many years, in 1930 Percy Cane
founded and edited the quarterly journal Garden Design. He
wrote Garden Design of Today (1934), The Earth is My Canvas
(1956) and The Creative Art of Garden Design (1967). The
results of his work may still be seen at Dartington Hall at Totnes,
Falkland Palace in Fife, Hascombe Court at Godalming, Hungerdown
House at Seagry and many other places including the palace grounds
at Addis Ababa.
(Buy book - Percy
Cane, garden designer, Ronald Webber)
Clusius,
Carolus (Charles de L'Ecluse) (1526-1609)
Flemish doctor and botanist who planned Europe's earliest botanic
garden in the Hortius Botanicus in Leiden, Holland. As Prefect of
the Royal Medicinal Garden in Prague, he started a collection of
tulips from seed. He subsequently became Prefect of the botanic
garden in Holland and over six hundred bulbs were planted at Leiden
by 1593.
Colenso,
William
A missionary printer who, on an overland walk in the mountains of
North Island of New Zealand in 1841-42, collected over 1,000 botanical
specimens new to science. He went with J.D.Hooker
on many botanical excursions. (species associated with him include
the name 'colensoi')
Compton,
Bishop Henry (1632-1713)
In the reign of William & Mary, few gardens were so celebrated
as those of Fulham Palace, when Henry Compton was Bishop of London.
He was the first great patron of botany in North America, sending
botanically trained missionaries to the Indians. He spent thirty
eight years at Fulham.
Compton,
Major Edward (d1977)
Descendant of Bishop Henry Compton. He is quoted as saying of the
fine house with uninspiring garden that he inherited in 1920 at
Newby Hall in
Yorkshire, that it was "..a lovely picture but no frame". He set
about creating a garden of superb perspective and content.
Copijn,
Hendrik (1848-1924)
Dutch landscape architect Hendrik Copijn designed the gardens of
the Wilhelminapark (Utrecht) and Kasteel Haarzuilens. Lodewijk Copijn
(1878-1945) designed the Julianapark in Utrecht.
Cunningham,
Allan (1791-1839)
Sent by Kew to Australia, stopping in Brazil for two years, Cunningham
explored extensively in Australia and was the first Kew collector
to visit New Zealand. On his travels he took a bag of peach stones
and seeds of other fruits and trees, planting them wherever he thought
they might be of benefit to future travellers. He finally became
superintendent of Sydney Botanic Garden, replacing his brother who
was killed by aborigines in 1835.
Danvers, Henry ( -1644)
Later to become the Earl of Danby, he was patron of Oxford University's
first physic garden in 1621.
Delavay,
Father Jean Marie (1838-1895)
The first European botanist in western China. He discovered many
garden plants in Yunnan. A magnolia and silver fir bear his name.
Don, George
(-)
The first plant hunter sent out by the Horticultural Society, he
collected both in West Africa and South America between 1820 and
1830. He was a native of Forfar in Scotland.
Douglas,
David (1799-1834)
A native of Scone in Scotland, David Douglas studied at the Glasgow
Botanic Gardens. On the recommendation of Sir William Hooker, he
was employed by the Horticultural Society to travel to America's
west coast and gather vast quantities of seed from species hitherto
unknown in the UK, including the Douglas fir and Sitka spruce. Plants
he introduced include Ribes sanguineum, Garrya elliptica, Clarkia,
Godetia, Gaillardia, Lupin, Collinsia, Mimulus, Eschscholtzia and
Penstemon. He met with a tragic end. When collecting in the Sandwich
Islands, he fell into one of the pits made to catch wild bulls,
and was gored to death.
Duchêne,
Achille Jean Henri (1866-1947)
French architecte paysagiste who specialised in restoration of classical
French gardens such as the châteaux of Vaux-le-Vicomte
and Courances in France and Schlosspark Nordkirchen in Germany.
Associated with pools and Mermaid Fountain at Blenheim Palace.
Duchesne,
Antoine Nicholas (1747-1827)
French botanist and writer.
Du
Perac (15??-15??)
Artist and 'Grand Architect du Roi' to Henry IV of France in 1582.
Elwes, Henry John (1846-1922)
Co-author with Augustine Henry of the great book Trees of Great
Britain and Ireland. Visited Sikkim in 1870.
Emes,
William (1730-1803)
His designs, in the 'landscape' style were used at Belton House,
Lincolnshire, and Erddig, Clwyd.
Euphorbus
First century AD Greek physician-in-ordinary to King Juba of Mauretania
whose name was given by Dioscorides to the genus Euphorbia
.
Evelyn,
John (1620-1706)
Besides translating the most noted French gardening books, John
Evelyn was the author of Kalendarium Hortense. Evelyn's Diary
is full of references to gardens. He made a famous garden at Sayes
Court, and he outlined a book on gardening, which, had he completed
it, would have been of the first importance.
Farrand, Beatrix (1872-1959)
Her designs were used at Dartington Hall and her beautifully documented
city garden of Dunbarton Oaks, Washington DC.
Farrer,
Reginald (1880-1920)
Botanical writer and plant-hunter, nephew of Grace, Lady Campbell,
founder of Crarae highland garden in Argyll, well known for his
rock garden plants. With Euan Cox, visited Yunnan in 1919 and introduced
the coffin-tree juniper, J. coxii.
Fish,
Margery (1888-1969)
Author of We Made a Garden(Buy)
and from 1937 with her husband Walter, the creator of the cottage
garden at East Lambrook
Manor. Through her books, broadcasts and lectures she became
a popular and influencial plantswoman.
Forrest,
George (1873-1932)
George Forrest was the greatest of all collectors of rhododendrons,
introducing hundreds of species from China and Tibet to Edinburgh
Botanic Garden, including R.giganteum and R.sinogrande.
Sponsored by A.K.Bulley of Ness, he went to China in 1904. He also
specialised in primulas. He introduced a beautiful silver fir and
a snakebark maple, both called forrestii.
Forster,
Johan Reinhold. (-)
Sailed on Cook's second expedition aboard Resolution as naturalist,
accompanied with his son George as artist. He was of mixed Scottish-Prussian
descent. He wrote Characteres Generum Plantanum, De Plantis
Esculentis, A Voyage Round the World (1777) and four
other books.
Fortune,
Robert (1812-1880)
A native of Berwickshire and a student at the Edinburgh Botanic
Garden, and at the Hoticultural Society gardens at Chiswick, he
was sent to China by the Horticultural Society in 1843. The first
collector in China to have relative freedom, he introduced many
essential garden plants to the western world. His trees included
the false larch, the Chinese plum yew, the umbrella pine and the
Cryptomeria. In 1848 he returned to China and sent seeds
and plants of the tea tree to India, thereby becoming the founder
of the India Tea industry. Fortune had remarkable adventures in
China. He went to Loo Chow disguised as a local, and it was there
that he obtained the double yellow rose named after him. Garden
plants introduced by him include Forsythia viridissima, jasminium
nudiflorum, anemone japonica, Dielytra spectabilis,
Kerria japonica, the white-flowered wisteria.
Fraser,
John (1750-1811)
A scotsman, John Fraser started business in London as a linen-draper
near the Chelea Physick Garden. He gave up his business to become
a plant collector. He crossed the Atlantic many times and some of
our best known shrubs were introduced by him. Among these were Magnolia
fraserii, Rhododendron catawbiense and Pieris
floribunda.
Gerard, John
John Gerard produced the earliest catalogue of the contents of an
English garden 'Catalogus arborum fruticum et plantarum',
dated 1596 (British Museum). He refers to the medicinal uses for
herbs.
Gilpin,
William Sawrey (1762-1845)
Author of Practical Hints for Landscape Gardening (1832).
W.S.Gilpin, a designer with a romantic Picturesque style, is associated
with the garden designs at Balcaskie, Fife, and Scotney
Castle, Kent.
(Buy book - Gardens
and the Picturesque, John Dixon Hunt / Hardcover / Published
1992)
Haast, Sir Julius von
Explorer and geologist, founder of the Canterbury Museum (New Zealand).
(species associated with him include the name 'haastii')
Hanbury,
Sir Thomas (1832-1907)
Sir Thomas was a wealthy Quaker and for 20 years a silk merchant
in China. In 1867 he bought the Palazzo Orengo on the Italian Riviera
around which, with his eminent botanist brother Daniel, he created
the celebrated garden of La Mortola. On the death of G.F.Wilson
in 1902, he bought his Oakwood Experimental Garden at
Wisley and the following year presented it in trust to the Royal
Horticultural Society.
Hanmer,
Sir Thomas
His gardening manual (1659) remained in manuscript until 1933, when
it was published under the title 'The Garden Book of Sir Thomas
Hanmer.' It contains the earliest gardening calendar written
in English. Hanmer, who was a Royalist, had a celebrated garden
at Bettesfield, and he was chiefly interested in tulips. One of
the most popular tulips of the seventeenth century, 'Agate Hanmer',
was raised by him.
Henry,
Augustine (1857-1930)
Born in Dundee, Scotland, spent his childhood in County Derry, Ireland,
Augustine Henry served in the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs.
He collected for Kew for nearly twenty years. He sent over 15,000
dried specimens to Kew Gardens, of which about 500 were new species.
After having studied forestry in France, he wrote his great book,
Trees of Great Britain and Ireland, in collaboration with
Henry John Elwes. Lilium henryi is named after him.
Herbert,
Hon William (1778-1845)
MP, poet, classicist then rector of Spofforth and Dean of the Collegiate
Church of Manchester, William Herbert cultivated bulbous plants
and experimented in hybridisation. His name is commemorated in the
genus herbertia.
Hooker,
Sir Joseph D. (1817-1911)
Son of Sir William, who he succeded as Director of Kew
Gardens. Sir Joseph Hooker returned from the Himalayas in 1850
with the magnificent Sikkim rhododendrons. He introduced the Himalayan
birch and reported amongst other trees, the biggest of all magnolias,
Magnolia Campbellii.
Hooker,
Sir William Jackson (1785-1865)
One of the worlds great botanists, became the first Director of
Kew Gardens. Published
part one of his Handbook of the New Zealand Flora in 1864
and part two in 1868.
Jahan, Shah (1591-1666)
Builder of the Taj Mahal at Agra in India, a sephulchre for his
deceased Persian Queen Mumtaz Mahal who died in 1631. The domed,
white marble building is raised on a terrace which overlooks both
the great formal garden, and the river Jumna on the other side.
Jekyll,
Gertrude (1843-1932)
Gertrude Jekyll's book 'Wood and Garden' (1899) had an enormous
influence on the English (and hence the world's) attitude to gardens.
She saw beauty in natural effects. She collaborated in garden design
with architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. They first
met in 1889 ". . . at a tea table, the silver kettle and the conversation
reflecting rhododendrons, . . ." as Lutyens described it. She is
associated with the garden at Bois
des Moutiers, near Dieppe, and Hestercombe
in Somerset.
Her planting designs were used at Broughton Castle in Oxfordshire,
Manor House Upton Grey, Lindisfarne Castle in Northumberland, Hatchlands
in Surrey and Knebworth in Hertfordshire. More information will
be found on the official web site of the
Jekyll estate.
Jellicoe,
Sir Geoffrey (1900-1996)
Joint author with J.C.Shepherd of the classic Italian Gardens
of the Renaissance. Other books were The Landscape of Man
(1975) and Baroque Gardens of Austria. Sir Geoffrey's designs
were used at Ditchley Park, Sandringham, Sutton Place in Surrey,
Shute House in Dorset, Cliveden (rose garden) in Buckinghamshire,
Cottesbroke Hall in Northamptonshire, Mottisfont
Abbey in Hampshire and the Moody Historical Gardens in Texas.
He created the Kennedy Memorial at Runnymede and the fine canal
at the RHS garden at Wisley.
(Buy Book - The
Studies of a Landscape Designer over 80 Years, Geoffrey Jellicoe
/ Hardcover / Published 1995)
Johnston,
Major Lawrence (1871-1958)
Creator of Hidcote
Manor Garden in Gloucestershire and various plant varieties
including Verbena 'Lawrence Johnston' and Hypericum
'Hidcote'.
Major Johnston was born in Paris of an English mother and American
father. He personally collected many plants from Africa and China
on a plant expedition in 1927. In the early twenties he bought La
Serre de la Madonna near Menton in the South of France where he
grew sub-tropical plants not suited to the Cotswolds.
Jones,
Inigo (1573-1652)
English architect and painter who laid out gardens at Lincoln's
Inn and, with Isaac de Caus, at Wilton House.
Kennedy, Lewis (-)
In his early days Lewis Kennedy worked for his father's nursery
(about 1812) at the garden of Malmaison for Josephine Boneparte.
From 1818 until 1868 he created the remarkable formal garden at
Drummond Castle in Perthshire.
Kent,
William (1685-1748)
William Kent was a Yorkshireman who began life as a coachbuilder's
apprentice, he was both a painter and an architect. Due to the influence
of Lord Burlington, he was made painter and architect to the king.
As a garden architect he was specially noted for his treatment of
water. His dominating principle was "Nature abhors a straight
line". The gardens he laid out are said to resemble Claude's
landscape paintings. The chief gardens he laid out were Stowe, Claremont
(Esher) and Rousham House (described by Horace Walpole as "the
most engaging of all Kent's works").
His architectural designs were used at Euston Hall, Holkham and
the Horseguards, Whitehall.
Kirk,
Sir John (-)
Accompanied Livingstone when he discovered Lake Nyassa and sent
plants home from tropical Africa. At his own expense he subsequently
made and maintained a botanical garden at Zanzibar.
Kobori
Enshu
Early seventeenth century Japanese gardener and tea-master who is
remembered for his 'shakkei', borrowed scenery, technique of garden
design.
Kniphof,
J.H. (1704-1763)
German doctor and botanist after whom the southern African genus
Kniphofia is named.
Ligorio, Pirro (c.1520-1583)
Roman architect and man of many interests who designed Villa d'Este
and garden at Tivoli and the Ovation fountain, for Cardinal d'Este,
between 1550 and the 1580s.
Linnaeus,
Carl (1707-1778)
The Swedish Professor of Medicine and Botany, who in his definitive
works Genera Plantarum and Species plantarum, classified
each plant by using two words in Latin form, instead of adopting
the descriptive phrases that had been in common use among the botanists
and herbalists of his day. His garden at Uppsala is a living monument
to his work.
Lobb,
William
A Cornishman collecting for the firm of Messrs Veitch, in Chile.
He is associated with the Monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria imbricata),
the Wellingtonia (Sequoia gigantea) and Berberis darwinii.
London,
George (d.1714)
A pupil of John Rose and for a time, gardener to Henry Compton,
Bishop of London, at Fulham Palace. He visited Versailles when he
was in the service of the Earl of Portland and in collaboration
with Henry Wise, laid out formal gardens at many English estates.
In James II's reign he and Moses Cook (gardener to the Earl of Essex),
Lucre (gardener to the Queen Dowager at Somerset House), and Field
(gardener to the Earl of Bedford), joined in founding the celebrated
Brompton Nurseries. He is associated with the design of Petworth,
Blenheim Palace, Chatsworth, Studley
Royal (Yorkshire) and Newby
Hall (Yorkshire).
Lorimer,
Sir Robert (1864-1929)
A distinguished Scottish restoring architect whose garden designs
in the Arts and Crafts tradition were used at Earlshall, Hill of
Tarvit and his home at Kellie Castle.
Loudon,
John Claudius (1783-1843)
Journalist and encyclopedist, he made the first complete record
of hardy trees then known and their implications for horticulture
in 1822 in his astonishing Arboretum et Fructicetum Britannicum,
shortened in 1842 to 1,200 pages as Trees and Shrubs of Great
Britain. He is said to have coined the expression 'gardenesque
style'.
Ludlow,
Frank (1895-1972)
With George Sherriff, Frank Ludlow is well known for his discovery
of rhododendrons and primulas on expeditions to Tibet.
Lutyens,
Sir Edwin Landseer (1869-1944)
English architect both of country houses and public buildings; designed
the Cenotaph, Whitehall; the city plan and viceroy's house in New
Delhi, the British Embassy at Washington and Liverpool Roman Catholic
cathedral. Associated with the design of Great
Dixter garden with Gertrude Jekyll. Designed
the house and garden at Bois
des Moutiers near Dieppe, the gardens at Hestercombe
in Somerset, Castle
Drogo in Devon, Knebworth and many other houses and gardens.
Marot,
Daniel (1661-1752)
French designer who fled to the Netherlands subsequent to the revocation
of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and is associated with magnificent
Het Loo baroque
garden and the Great Parterre at Hampton
Court laid out for Prince William of Orange (1650-1702) and
Princess Mary II (1662-1695). Marot achieved a high degree of unity
by using similar designs in different ways in stucco ceilings, garden
parterres, wrought ironwork, silk wallhangings, garden urns and
ceiling paintings.
Masson,
Francis (1741-1805)
A Scotsman from Aberdeen, Francis Masson was the first professional
plant collector sent out on behalf of Kew Gardens. He made collections
in the Cape of Good Hope including many of the Erica and
Stapelia species. He also visited the Canaries, the Azores,
the West Indies and Canada.
Masson,
Georgina
Author of Italian Gardens (1961), a comprehensive history
of the principal gardens of Italy since early times.
McEacharn,
Captain Neil Boyd Watson (1884-1964)
Scottish member of the Royal Company of Archers and Linnaean Academician
who from 1931 created the botanical gardens of Villa Taranto, beside
Lake Maggiore.
Menzies,
Archibald (1754-1842)
Naval surgeon and botanist, sailed on Vancouver's 'Discovery' on
its voyage of exploration to the Northwest in the 1790s. He was
the first botanist to see the colossal conifers of the Pacific coast.
The Latin name of the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii
) commemorates him.
Miller,
Philip (1691-1771)
A Scotsman, succeeded his father as Curator of the Chelea Physic
Garden. He was curator for sixty years, and made the garden the
finest of its kind in Europe. His massive "Gardener's Dictionary,"
enlarged by Thomas Martyn, was the standard work on gardening in
Europe and America for a century.
Mollet,
André (d.c.1665)
A Frenchman who came from a family distinguished as gardeners for
three generations. He was the first garden writer to advocate planting
great avenues of trees. After the Restoration, Charles II appointed
Mollet head gardener at St James, and under him the place was transformed
in accordance with the French ideas, ie. the great avenues planted
and the canal made.
Monet,
Claude (1840-1926)
A leading middle-class painter of the Impressionist movement, Monet
was also an accomplished botanist and a keen gardener. Starting
in 1883, he transformed his garden at Giverny,
France, into the subject for many of his immortal paintings.
More,
Sir Thomas (1478-1535)
Had at his Chelsea home one of the most noted gardens in England.
This garden occupied the site of what, until 1876, was Chelsea Park,
now the Elm Park estate. A great avenue in Sir Thomas' garden led
to the river side, where he kept his eight oared barge; for it was
by river he went to Whitehall and the city. Few gardens were so
much frequented by the celebrities of the day. King Henry VIII often
spent whole days there, and other visitors were Erasmus, Colet,
Linacre, to mention but a few.
Sir Thomas More's name is always associated with rosemary, of which
he wrote: "As for rosemarie I lette it runne all over my garden
walls, not onlie because my bees love it, but because it is the
herb sacred to remembrance and to friendship whence a spray of it
hath a dumb language."
Le Nôtre, André
(1613-1700)
The most celebrated gardener of the seventeenth century, was an
architectural genius. His influence was supreme in every country
in Europe, and he was chiefly responsible for the abolition of the
Gothic types of pleasaunces, replacing them by vast gardens with
impressive avenues, canals, etc. André Le Nôtre was
a man of very humble birth, for his father, Jean Le Nôtre
was an under-gardener at the Tuileries. His father ultimately became
head gardener, and his son worked under him. Le Nôtre did
not achieve fame until quite late in life. He laid out the gardens
at Vaux-le-Vicomte
and Versailles. Chatsworth and Wrest in England are after his style.
Page, Russell (1906-1985)
English author of The Education of a Gardener, Russell Page's
garden designs were used at Leeds Castle (Kent), Port Lympne (Kent),
the Frick Gallery in New York and The Donald M.Kendall Sculpture
Garden at Pepsi Cola's World Headquarters in Purchase, New York.
His work is also to be found in France, Italy and Spain.
Paxton,
Sir Joseph, MP. (1803-1865)
One of the greatest gardeners of the nineteenth century, Sir Joseph
started as an assistant gardener at Chatsworth (Derbyshire) and
ultimately became head gardener. He designed a magnificent Palm
House there, which took four years to build. It was finished in
1840 and demolished in the early 1900s. This glasshouse inspired
Paxton with the idea of the Crystal Palace, the plan that secured
him his knighthood. Sir Joseph's designs were also used at Somerleyton
Hall (Suffolk) and the formal Italian gardens at Tatton Park
(Cheshire).
Peto,
Harold (1854-1933)
Harold Peto began his career in an architectural partnership in
London with Ernest George. He was one of the most successful landscape
designers of the Edwardian period, who re-introduced the Italianate
style into British gardening. He also had an active practice in
the South of France, where he designed several villas and their
gardens, such as Villa Sylvia and the Villa Rosemary. Harold Peto's
designs were used at Buscot Park (Oxfordshire), Heale House (Wiltshire),
the recently restored Iford
Manor (Wiltshire), West Dean (West Sussex) and Ilnacullin (Glengarriff)
Gardens.
Plat,
Sir Hugh
One of Queen Elizabeth's courtiers, Sir Hugh Plat was an enthusiastic
gardener, and his gardens at Bishop's Hall, Bethnal Green and Kirkby
Castle, were celebrated. It is obvious from his books, The Jewel
House of Art and Nature, Floraes Paradise (1608), Garden
of Eden (1655), etc., that he visited many of the famous gardens
of his time. The information he collected invariably appears in
his books, with the name of his informant attached. His herb gardens
were evidently his chief hobby, for his most attractive book, Delights
for Ladies, treats entirely of herb recipes. He was also one
of the first to suggest means of protecting exotic plants.
Pliny
the Younger, Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (c61-113)
Nephew of Pliny the Elder, Roman writer, Governer of Bithynia and
owner of two villas, his winter Laurentian villa (near Ostia, on
the west coast of Italy) and the summer Tuscan villa (inland, at
the foot of the Apennines). Noted for his letters of historical
interest.
Repton, Humphrey (1752-1818)
He succeeded 'Capability' Brown as head gardener at Hampton
Court, was the first to assume the title of landscape gardener.
His 'Red Books' are valuable evidence of the types of gardens
he destroyed, and the 'landscapes' created in their places. Author
of Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening
(1803). In many ways the successor to 'Capability Brown'. His gardens
revealed a softening of Brownian principals.
His designs were used at Antony House, Bowood, Clumber Park, Hatchlands,
Plas Newydd, Sheffield Park, Sheringham Park (Norfolk), Tatton Park
and Wimpole Hall.
Robert,
Hubert (1733-1808)
French painter, architect and garden designer. With Richard Mique,
designed Le Hameau for Marie Antoinette in the park at Versailles
in the 1770s.
Robinson,
William (1838-1935)
William Robinson's The English Flower Garden of 1883 was
reprinted almost annually for over 25 years, while a whole generation
of gardeners imbibed his outspoken rejection of Victorian fussiness
and formality. Earlier (1870) he published Alpine Flowers for
Gardens and The Wild Garden. Born in Ireland, he was
the leader of the new landscape school of gardening. They turned
parks into gardens and taught the nation to appreciate hardy plants
and herbaceous borders at their true value.
His designs were used at Emmetts, his own home Gravetye Manor (West
Sussex), Killerton House and Nymans Gardens.
Rock,
Joseph
Born in Vienna, Joseph Rock collected for the Arnold
Arboretum in 'Tebbuland', which he described as 'a garden of
Eden' with an enormous variety of plants. A beautiful mountain ash
bears his name.
Rose,
John
John Rose had been in the service of the Earl of Essex, who sent
him to study under Le Nôtre. Ultimately
he succeded André Mollet as head of the royal gardens. John
Rose's name is chiefly associated with viticulture, for he made
great efforts to re-introduce the culture of the vine. His book
on the subject,'The English Vinyard Vindicated', was a standard
work, and John Evelyn wrote the preface to
it. Rose's name is also associated with pineapples, for he grew
and presented to the king the first pineapple raised in England.
Sachs, Julius von (1832-1897)
Professor of Botany at Wurzburg, he transformed the study of plant
physiology; possibly the greatest of all plant experimentalists.
The author of a history of botany which influenced people's ideas
of the subject until recent times.
Sherriff,
George (1898-1967)
With his friend Frank Ludlow and later, with his wife Betty, made
several plant hunting expeditions to south-east Tibet and Kashmir.
Siebold,
Philip von (-)
A Bavarian who went to Japan in 1823. With Zuccarini he published
Flora Japonica in 1833.
Solander,
Daniel C. (-)
A Swede from the University of Uppsala and a pupil of Linnaeus accompanied
Sir Joseph Banks on Captain James Cook's first expedition in the
Endeavour (1768-71).
Soseki
(Musokokushi) (1275-1351)
A Zen priest and probably the most important figure in Japanese
medieval garden design. His work marked the real watershed between
the traditional and Pure-Land forms of gardens and the later gardens
that developed under the influence of Zen and the tea ceremony.
His gardens include the pond and waterfall at Tentyuji (Kyoto),
the small garden at Toji-in (Kyoto) and the moss gardens at Saiho-ji
(Kyoto).
Spruce,
Richard (1817-1893)
Richard Spruce was born at Ganthorpe in North Yorkshire in 1817.
When he was 19 he published A List of Flora of the Malton District
naming 485 species. In his early twenties he was invited to go to
the Pyrenees to study plant life. He returned with a specimen of
every known plant growing there and 73 which had never been found
there before, 17 of which were unknown. In 1848 he went to the Amazon
and spent 15 years collecting flowers, plants and mosses. The hardship
he suffered in the jungle nearly killed him. He listed over 700
species, collecting 500 of them himself of which 400 were new to
botanists. He returned to his native countryside and died at Coneysthorpe,
North Yorkshire, in 1893. His grave lies in the village churchyard
at Terrington.
Sutherland,
Dr Peter (1822-1900)
First discovered Begonia sutherlandii and after whom
the plant was named by J.D.Hooker in the Botanical Magazine
in 1868.
Tradescant,
John (1608-1662)
The name of Tradescant is of the first importance. Many of our best
known garden plants are associated with their names. The Tradescants
were an East Anglian family of Dutch origin. In 1607 John Tradescant
the Elder married at Meopham, being then in the service of Robert
Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury and Lord Treasurer of England.
His name is chiefly associated with Hatfield, and he was several
times sent abroad to buy fruit trees. Amongst fruits his name is
particularly associated with Tradescant's Cherry which is figured
in the collection of paintings of fruits known as 'Tradescant's
Orchard, in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. Also at Oxford, in the
Ashmolean Museum is their collection of 'all things strange and
rare'.
Both Tradescants are buried next to Admiral Bligh of the 'Bounty',
in the churchyard of St Mary-at-Lambeth, next door to Lambeth Palace.
Turner,
Richard (1798-1881)
Dublin ironmaster and builder who designed the Palm House at Glasgow
Botanic Garden (1834), the curvilinear glasshouses at Glasnevin
(1843-1869) and the Palm House at Kew (1844-1848 in collaboration
with Decimus Burton). (Glasra Vol 5 1981 pp 51-53)
d'Urville, Dumont
Executive Officer and Botanist in the French voyages of discovery
in the South Seas of 1822 and 1826 aboard the corvette Coquille
(and renamed Astrolabe) commanded by Duperrey.
Vanbrugh, Sir John (1664-1726)
English playwright and architect of Castle
Howard (North Yorkshire), Seaton Delaval Hall (Northumberland),
Blenheim Palace (Oxfordshire), Stowe (Buckinghamshire) and Claremont
(Surrey).
van
Nost, John
The greatest maker of garden ornaments of the early 18th century.
See his statue of Hercules at Powis
Castle (Powys), a fluting shepherd boy at Canons Ashby House,
(Northamptonshire) and Four Faces Urn at Melbourne Hall (Derbyshire).
Walling, Edna Margaret
(1896-1973)
Garden designer in the style of Gertrude Jekyll. Born in Devon,
England, she went with her family first to New Zealand then settled
in Australia. In the 1920s she developed a village with 'English'
gardens at Mooroolbark. She wrote for Australian Home Beautiful
and the books Gardens in Australia (1943), Cottage and
Garden (1947) and A Gardener's Log (1948).
(Buy book - The
Edna Walling book of Australian garden design, Edna Walling)
Ward,
Frank Kingdon (1885-1958)
Frank Kingdon Ward travelled widely in the Himalayas and published
several readable accounts of his experiences in the 1920s including
The Riddle of the Tsangpo Gorges and The Romance of Plant
Hunting. He collected unusual primulas, lilies, rhododendrons
and gentians. He studied the distribution of the Meconopsis
in Tibet. Biography
by Oliver Tooley, Frank's grandson.
Willmott,
Ellen (1858-1934)
Miss Willmott is known for her garden at Warley Place in Essex,
part of which became a reserve for the Essex Naturalists' Trust
in 1978, though little of her garden remains. She became renowned
for her knowledge of plants, her patronage of plant hunters (notably
Ernest Wilson), the book she published on roses and her prickly
temperament. Her habit of scattering seeds of eryngium or
'Miss Wilmott's ghost' in friend's gardens didn't endear her to
those who didn't especially fancy eryngiums! She developed the garden
at Boccanegra on the Italian Riviera.
Wilson,
Dr Ernest Henry (1876-1930)
One of the most famous plant hunters, who collected in the East
for Harry Veitch's nursery and others including the Arnold Arboretum
in Boston. He discovered over 3,000 species. Among the 1,000 new
shrubs he introduced to Europe is the easily grown and popular Lilium
regale. His trees include the paperbark maple, the giant dogwood
and Magnolia wilsonii.
Wise,
Henry (1653-1738)
Henry Wise was superintendant of the royal gardens at the (recently
restored) 1701 re-creation of the King's Privy Garden for William
III at Hampton Court
as recorded in the panoramic painting by Leonard Knyff. In partnership
with George London, Henry Wise is associated with aspects of the
design of gardens at Studley
Royal, Castle
Howard and Newby
Hall in Yorkshire and at Blenheim Palace and Chatsworth.