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.
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
Pehr Kalm |
|
|
|
|
 |
 This
German doctor and botanist travelled extensively with
the Dutch East India Company. He was the first plant explorer to describe
Ginkgo biloba and the genus,
Camellia. During his
time in
Japan
around 1690, he was the first person to make
drawings of the genus,
Hosta.
The genus,
Kaempferia is named for him as are the species, Larix
kaempferi and
Rhododendron kaempferi.
|
|
|
|
 |
 A Swedish clergyman and
botanist
who studied with
Linnaeus,
Kalm
spent 1748-1751 as a plant explorer in
North America. The genus,
Kalmia
(Mountain Laurel) is named
after him. Kalmia includes about 7
species of evergreen shrubs from 2 to 15 feet tall, in the
family
Ericaceae.
Lobelia kalmii is also named
for him.
|
|
|
|
 |
Pharmacist and botanical
author for whom the genus,
Camellia, is named.
|
|
|
|
 |
 Known for his
humor and irreverence, Des Kennedy is a well-known garden writer,
television personality
and speaker. He lives and gardens on Gulf Island in British
Columbia,
Canada.
Des is the author of The Way of a Gardener:
A Life's Journey (ISBN-13:978-1553654179) and An Ecology
of Enchantment: A Year in the Life of a Garden
(ISBN-13:978-1553653707) as well as
articles on environmental issues, gardening and rural living for
many publications. He has also written fiction
books and has been nominated for the Stephen Leacock Memorial
Medal for Humour.
* Thanks to Meg for nominating Des for
inclusion in this list.
|
|
|
|
 |
In his early days, Lewis Kennedy worked for his father's nursery
(about 1812) at the garden of Château de Malmaison near
Paris under the direction of
Napoleon's wife, Josephine Bonaparte.
During the years from 1818 until 1868 he helped create the remarkable formal garden at
Drummond Castle in Perthshire, Scotland.
|
|
|
|
 |
Scottish horticulturist
at
the
Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew,
England, Kerr was also a plant collector in
China.
His name is associated
with the genus,
Kerria.
Other plants associated with
him as a plant collector include
Euonymus japonica,
Lilium lancifolium, and
Rosa banksiae var. banksiae
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Badgers
German professor,
physician and author. The
genus,
Knautia, an upright, clump-forming, somewhat
short-lived perennial, is named for him.
|
|
|
|
 |
German Professor of
Medicine and botanist at Erfurt University after whom the southern
African genus,
Kniphofia is named. His most famous work was
Herbarium Vivum (1762).
|
|
|
|
 |
 The genus,
Kolkwitzia
(beautybush),
is named for this German botanist. The plant was first
identified by Giuseppe Giraldi and was introduced in the
United
Kingdom plant industry by
E.H. Wilson
about 1901.
|
|
|
|
 |
 A
German doctor, Kölreuter was also a pioneer in the science of botany.
His main areas of interest were plant hybridizing and he was one
of the early scientists to recognize the role of insects in
plant pollination.
The genus,
Koelreuteria (goldenrain tree), is
named for him.
|
|
