Comments from Mr. PGC: Throughout history, many people have made lasting contributions to the world of plants. In these pages, we hope to pay tribute to some of them. Our concentration will be primarily on those who have introduced plants to the gardening world, those who have helped spread the word about gardening and those who have made significant contributions to landscaping and landscaping design around the world.

This list will be constantly growing as we add new names. If you have someone who you think should be on the list, please send us an Email.
 


Although known mainly as a philosopher, Bacon gardened extensively at his estate at Gorhambury in Hertfordshire, England. The notes he made about the design and layout of the four-acre water garden may be found in the British Museum.

Born in South Haven, Michigan, Bailey started his career at Michigan Agriculture College (now Michigan State University) under the tutelage of W.J. Beal. In 1885, he established the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Gardening at Michigan State, the first such department in the U.S. In 1888, he became a  Professor of horticulture and botany at Cornell University and became its Dean of the College of Agriculture.

Bailey was an influential botanist and horticulturist who helped create the modern study of cultivated plants. He and his daughter, Ethel Zoe Bailey, compiled the massive work, Hortus: A Concise Dictionary of Gardening, General Horticulture and Cultivated Plants in North America.

Like so many men of his age, Banks was independently wealthy and dabbled in science as a hobby. He financed the botanical aspects of an expedition by Captain Cook and accompanied him on the voyage to search for new plants. Later,  he was appointed horticultural and botanical advisor to Kew Gardens. Sir Joseph served as President of the Royal Society for more than 40 years and funded plant collection expeditions by several other well-known men..

Plant species associated with him often include the name 'banksii.' Some of them are Grevillea banksii, Pterostylis banksii, Leptaspis banksii, Onychoteuthis banksii, Hormosira banksii, Hibbertia banksii, Heteronympha banksii, Astelia banksii, Musa acuminata subsp. banksii, Cordyline banksii, Musa banksii).

John Bartram was the first American born botanist. He founded the Philadelphia Botanical Garden at Kingsessing, Pennsylvania in 1728. During his lifetime, he helped introduce many American tree species to Europe.

 

William James Beal studied under Louis Agassiz and Asa Gray at Harvard University. He lectured in botany at the University of Chicago before serving as Professor of Botany at Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University) from 1870-1910 where one of his students was Liberty Hyde Bailey. Beal designed the oldest continuously operated botanical garden in the US. In 1879 on the campus in East Lansing, Michigan. Dr. Beal began his vitality experiment by burying 1,000 seeds from twenty different plant species to test seed germination.

He wrote, The New Botany, in which he emphasized naturalistic design with both native and exotic plants. His outdoor laboratory (WJ Beal Botanical Garden) has expanded to 6 acres and over 5,000 species, and is acknowledged as the oldest of North American botanical gardens.


Josephine married the Vicomte de Beauharnais, 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.

Designer of the late 17th century exotic topiary garden at Levens Hall, Cumbria, between 1690 and 1720.


Nineteenth-century medical doctor and botanical designer of Mt. Auburn Cemetery near Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was among the first in the United States to propose multiple uses for cemeteries such as picnicking, ceremonies and general open space purposes.

A Scotsman who spent most of his time in France, Blaikie laid out the gardens of Château de Malmaison for the Empress Josephine. He also made the original plan for the remarkable garden at Bagatelle in Paris.


He was a proponent of a return to simpler and less formal garden designs. Blomfield also designed the terrace garden at Mellerstain in the Scottish Borders and the Sulgrave Manor garden.

 


Speaker, lecturer, author, plantsman and president of Blooms of Bressingham Nursery in Norfolk, England. He is the son of famed plantsman, Alan Bloom.

 

Alan Bloom was one of the great British plantsmen of the twentieth century. A gardener from the age of 16, he bought Bressingham Hall, in Norfolk, England in 1946 and founded a world-renowned gardening dynasty that today spans three generations.

He was the creator of the six acre Dell garden at Bressingham where he pioneered the use of hardy perennials in "Island Beds" which was a new concept in the mid-1950's. As a plant breeder, he was also responsible for breeding and introducing nearly 200 cultivars of perennials. Amongst the most famous introductions are Crocosmia 'Lucifer', Astilbe 'Sprite', Achillea 'Moonshine', Geranium 'Ballerina' and Phlox 'Franz Schubert'.

Bridgeman worked on landscapes of a massive scale, creating gardens that used the grass-clad shape of the land itself. His designs were used at Claremont, Rousham Hall, Blenheim Palace (Oxfordshire), Stowe, Wimpole Hall, Wolterton Park and in Kensington Gardens in London.

Capability Brown (His nickname came from his habit of saying that a place had great "capabilities") started as an under-gardener and finally the head gardener to the Duke of Grafton. In 1764 he became the Royal Gardener at Hampton Court Palace where he continued until his death in 1782. The famous grape vine which still exists there today is said to have been planted by Brown.

Brown is largely responsible for changing the English landscape from a formal design of knot gardens, parterres, and topiaries to informal meandering paths, streams, serpentine lakes, and rolling hills with scattered groupings of trees. He tried to create a "natural," yet man-made, look to the landscape. He viewed his designs as tasteful improvement on nature, yet also having some function and utility to man. Applauded by many for his new style, he was criticized by others for destroying so many of the prized formal landscapes and plantings of his time.

His designs were used at Blenheim Palace (Oxfordshire), Bowood, Chatsworth (Derbyshire), Chilham Castle, Claremont, Clumber Park, Croome (Worcestershire), Euston Hall, Harewood House (Yorkshire), Petworth House, Luton Hoo, Sheffield Park, Stowe (Buckinghamshire), Syon Park (Middlesex), Warwick Castle, Wimpole Hall and Wrest Park.

He was sent as agriculturist and missionary to the Church of Scotland Mission to Nyassaland in Africa in 1876. During his stay, Buchanan, sent over 1,000 dried plant specimens to Kew for classification and also introduced several plants species into the nursery trade in England.

Plants associated with him bear the name buchananii including Carex buchananii, Clerodendrum buchananii, Acaena buchananii, Aloe buchananii, Salvia buchananii, and Newtonia buchananii.

Budding is the Englishman who invented the lawn mower in the 1830s. Before then, sheep and other livestock or gardeners with scythes trimmed lawns. His invention made expansive lawns possible and popular, much as we see them today.


From his home in Santa Rosa, California and nearby Sebastopol, Burbank conducted his experiments in plant breeding. During his 50 year career, he introduced more than 800 new varieties of plants including over 200 varieties of fruits, many vegetables, nuts and grains, and hundreds of ornamental flowers.

In 1902, Robert Butchart established a limestone quarry about 12 miles north of the City of Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. After the quarry was played out by 1908, his wife, Jennie, began to beautify the area with plants. She had thousands of cubic yards of soil brought in and the beautiful gardens were soon attracting large numbers of visitors. It is estimated that thousands of people toured Butchart Gardens each year during the 1930's.

World War II caused a shortage of labor and the gardens went into decline. After the death of the Butcharts, their grandson, Robert Ian Ross returned the gardens to their former glory. The Ross family continues to own and operate the gardens.

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