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January Hortic Birthdays



January Hortic Birthdays A tip of the garden hat to a few of those who have improved our gardens, health and lives in general: "Whoever could make two ears of corn grow where only one grew before would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together." Jonathan Swift 1667-1745 Ganapathi Thanikaimoni 1 January 1938--5 September 1986 A leading Indian palynologist, who studied contemporary and fossil pollens, killed age 48 during a military assault after terrorists hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 from Karachi. He was reportedly helping a child when hit by fragments of a grenade set off by the terrorists. Johann Heinrich Heucher 1 January 1677--22 February 1747 German physician and natural scientist, professor of medicine at Wittenberg, physician to King Augustus the Strong of Dresden; if you have Heuchera in the garden, the genus is named in his honour.
Thomas Nuttall 5 January 1786--10 September 1859 English botanist, zoologist, writer, educated Harvard University, explored America 1808-41, with many plants named after his discoveries, amongst them Plants: Elodea nuttallii, Cornus nuttallii, Mimosa nuttallii, Viola nuttallii Alwyn Howard Gentry 6 January 1945--3 August 1993 American botanist, plant collector with the Missouri Botanical Garden who made major contributions to understanding of vegetation of tropical forests; visited Peru 33 times; published over 200 works and was killed in a plane crash in the mountains of Ecuador, age 48 Alfred Russel Wallace 8 January 1823--7 November 1913 English zoologist, botanist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, co-discoverer with Darwin of evolution, active in Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia; The Malay Archipelago (1869) has never been out of print Adalbert Emil Walter Le Tanneux von Saint Paul-Illaire 12 January 1860--12 December 1940 German colonial officer, governor northeastern province of Tanganyika (now Tanzania) who collected original African violet in Usambara Mountains and so commemorated in the genera Saintpaulia; also published a Swahili phrase book

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Federico Schickendntz 15 January 1837--4 April 1896 German-Argentine botanist, geologist, meteorologist, chemist, mineralogist active in Catamarca, Argentina for whom several cacti and other succulents are named, including Gymnocalycium schickendantzii, Echinopsis schickendantzii Opuntia schickendentzii, Euphorbia schickendentzii, Trichocerids' schickendentzii, Bulnesia schickendentzii Leonhart Fuchs 17 January 1501--10 May 1566 German physician, botanist and herbalist, he created the first medicinal garden for the University of Tübingen and authored De Historia Stirpium Commentarii Insignis (1542) the uses of plants as medicines i.e. an herbal and for whom Fuchsia are named Alice Eastwood 19 January 1859--30 October 1953 Canadian-American self-taught botanist who published over 310 scientific articles and for whom 17 species are named, including Fritillaria eastwoodii, Salix eastwoodiae, Erigeron alienate along with the genera Eastwoodia and Aliciella Nathaniel Wallich 28 January 1786--28 April 1854 Danish physician and botanist, active in India from 1807 at a Danish settlement near Calcutta, later with the East India Company, professor of botany at Calcutta Medical College for who, Geranium wallichianum, Pinus wallichiana are named


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Wes Porter -- Bio and Archives

Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.


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