Walter Ingwersen

摘要

In the late 1950s it was to my benefit that worked at Walter Ingwersen's Birch Farm Hardy Plant Nursery. At the time I was considering what path to take following the distraction of National Service. Not only was Walter Ingwersen there and still verymuch involved with the plant world, although by then nearly blind, I had the added bonus of working with his two sons Will and Paul.My overall memory of the senior Ingwersen is of a quiet, bearded, kindly man, eager to share not only his knowledge but his plants as well. Onesoon learnt to be cautious in expressing admiration for a particular plant as he would almost always extract it there and then and present it as a gift. This gentle, benevolent manner has been noted by others (e.g. Anderson 1960) but there was also a reassuring firmness and confidence that his was the tested and right way of doing things.