E Bertram Anderson

摘要

Although a chemist and bacteriologist by profession, EB Anderson knew many of the eminent horticulturists of his day. He sourced plants from far afield and was generous in distributing them. Robert Rolfe discusses his life and mischievous humour.Variously addressed as'Bertram', 'Anderson'or, more often, in gardening circles,'EB'and'EBA, Edward Bertram Anderson 'belonged to a generation of great gardeners and was himself great among them', as onetime RHS editor Patrick Synge wrote (1971), following his long-standing friend's funeral. Although aged 86, Anderson had only recently returned from a plant-hunting trip to the Dolomites, and famously was still harvesting and sowing seed of slow-to-mature triiliums, erythroniums and dwarf Narcissus in quantity. An unusually large number of his plants have endured. This is partly because of his discriminating taste, partly due to his generosity in distributing them throughout his life, and partly because well-connected friends such as Chris Brickell, past director of the RHS, were involved in the dispersal of the collection after his death.