BIRMINGHAM BOTANICAL GARDENS CELEBRATES ERNEST HENRY WILSON (1876-1930)

left to right - Hilary Hall, Chairman of the Trustees of Birmingham Botanical Gardens; the Deputy Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Michael Wilkes; the 'young Wilson'; and Rob Blythe of the Birmingham Civic Society.

The life and work of an extraordinary man – Ernest Henry Wilson - gardener, botanist and plant hunter – was commemorated at Birmingham Botanical Gardens & Glasshouses recently, with a blue plaque, presented by the Birmingham Civic Society and unveiled by the Deputy Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Michael Wilkes.

The 'young Wilson', personified by actor Tristan Pate, as he appears in photographs during his training at the Gardens

The man who ultimately was to introduce the 'Chinese gooseberry' or kiwi fruit to the western world, came from a humble background. The son of a railway worker living on the outskirts of Birmingham, Ernest rose from nursery boy to the pinnacle of his career, the Directorship of Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum. He spent his formative years living and working in Edgbaston and trained at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens from 1893 to 1897 before going on to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and fame as a plant collector. He returned from his early expeditions to marry at St. George’s Church Edgbaston. Students from Birmingham Botanical Gardens still go on to achieve great things and last spring planted five specimen trees from his finest Chinese introductions around the church.

‘Chinese’ Wilson was one of the most famous and successful plant hunters, he collected over 100,000 specimens, introducing 1,200 new species and recorded his expeditions on 10,000 glass plate photographs. Over 20 years he collected in 15 countries on three continents – and still found time to publish ten books. His plant introductions from China included Davidia involucrata – the handkerchief tree – a fine specimen of which can be found at the Gardens along the Wilson Walk. Today in almost every garden will be found a Wilson plant.
 

left to right and re-creating an old photograph , Simon Gulliver, Plant Records Officer & Horticultural Lecturer at the Gardens; 'young Wilson' Tristan Pate; and Derek Wilkes another of today's gardeners.