Lloyd, Christopher 1921–2006

PERSONAL: Born March 2, 1921, in Northiam, Sussex, England; died January 27, 2006, in Hastings, East Sussex, England; son of Nathaniel (an architectural historian) and Daisy (Field) Lloyd. Education: King's College, Cambridge, M.A. (modern languages), 1947; Wye College, London, B.Sc. (horticulture), 1950. Hobbies and other interests: Walking, classical music, dachshunds.

CAREER: Wye College, London, England, lecturer in decorative horticulture, 1950–54; Great Dixter (fifteenth-century house and Sir Edwin Lutyens-designed garden), proprietor and nurseryman, 1954–2006. Writer; lecturer abroad. Military service: British Army, 1941–46.

MEMBER: Royal Horticultural Society.

AWARDS, HONORS: Victoria Medal from Royal Horticultural Society, 1977, for outstanding services in the field of horticulture; Order of the British Empire (OBE) appointment, 2000.

WRITINGS:

Clematis, Country Life (London, England), 1965, 2nd edition, illustrations by Marjorie Blamey, Collins & World (London, England), 1977.

Shrubs and Trees for Small Gardens, Pan Books (London, England), 1965, enlarged edition, Arthur Barker (London, England), 1966, revised edition, Pan Books (London, England), 1977.

Hardy Perennials, Studio Vista (London, England), 1967.

Gardening on Chalk and Lime, Pan Books (London, England), 1969.

The Well-Tempered Garden, Collins (London, England), 1970, Dutton (New York, NY), 1971, revised edition, Random House (New York, NY), 1985.

Foliage Plants, Collins (London, England), 1973, revised edition, Random House (New York, NY), 1985.

The Adventurous Gardener, photographs by Pamela Toler, Random House (New York, NY), 1983.

(With Anne Scott-James) Glyndebourne, watercolors by Elizabeth Bury, Peterhouse Press (Buckinghamshire, England), 1984.

The Well-Chosen Garden, Harper (New York, NY), 1984.

The Gardening Year at Great Dixter, Viking (New York, NY), 1987.

Christopher Lloyd's Flower Garden, photographs by Steven Wooster, D. Kindersley (New York, NY), 1993.

In My Garden, Bloomsbury (New York, NY), 1993.

(Coauthor) Planting Your Garden, Royal Horticultural Society (London, England), 1993.

(Coauthor) Garden Flowers from Seed, Timber (Portland, OR), 1994.

Other People's Gardens, Viking (New York, NY), 1995.

(Coauthor) The Cottage Garden, photographs by Jacqui Hurst, D. Kindersley (New York, NY), 1999.

Christopher Lloyd's Garden Flowers: Perennials, Bulbs, Grasses, Ferns, Timber (Portland, OR), 2000.

Color for Adventurous Gardeners, edited by Erica Hunningher, photographs by Jonathan Buckley, Firefly (Willowdale, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Meadows, edited by Erica Hunningher, photographs by Jonathan Buckley, Timber (Portland, OR), 2004.

Succession Planting: For Year-Round Pleasure, edited by Erica Hunningher, photographs by Jonathan Buckley, Timber (Portland, OR), 2005.

Also author of Gardener Cook, 1997, and Dear Friend and Gardener (correspondence with Beth Chatto), 1998.

Author of the weekly column "In My Garden" for Country Life, 1963–2005, and a monthly gardening column for the Guardian. Contributor to other periodicals.

SIDELIGHTS: One of England's foremost horticulturists, Christopher Lloyd began writing about gardening in the 1950s. In The Well-Tempered Garden the author shares practical advice on major gardening activities such as planting, pruning, and weeding. One Times Literary Supplement reviewer called the book "a beautifully illustrated volume which is not only a pleasure to read but is a reference book for those who, like Mr. Lloyd, garden for the love of it." The Adventurous Gardener, another Lloyd volume, provides creative advice for the serious gardener. Noting the book's "tantalizing pictures" and "well-honed prose," Barbara Saltzman wrote in the Los Angeles Times Book Review: "Experienced gardeners will find much to stimulate them."

An acknowledged master in the art of combining plants for visual effect, Lloyd shares this expertise in The Well-Chosen Garden. "In a charming, conversational style, Mr. Lloyd provides superb documentation of his exceptional talent in … contrasting flower and foliage colors and forms, and his perceptive comments should encourage others to follow suit," wrote Linda Yang in the New York Times Book Review. Saltzman commented in the Los Angeles Times Book Review: "In a conversational, compressed and highly readable style, Lloyd manages … to put at our disposal a lifetime of valuable hands-on knowledge quite applicable to the smaller-scaled American garden." The reviewer commended the book's "beautiful color photos" as well. Ruth Isabel Ross, writing in the Times Literary Supplement, also described the volume as "beautifully illustrated," adding: "As well as strong opinions, which we may or may not share, The Well-Chosen Garden shows great enthusiasm."

Lloyd published several other gardening books before his death in 2006. One of them, titled Meadows, focuses on growing perennials in grasses. Lloyd uses photographs of the landscape at Great Dixter, his estate, to display his techniques. Writing in Booklist, Alice Joyce praised the book, particularly Lloyd's "seemingly boundless horticulture expertise" and "sharp wit." In a review for the Library Journal, Robert Eagan noted that the book is "more than a narrow story of a single garden" and that it "covers many species native to this side of the Atlantic"

In Gardener Cook, Lloyd suggests the best plants for meals and includes recipes. He collaborated with photographers, artists, gardeners, and authors to infuse his work with several viewpoints. Raul Nino described the publication in Booklist as "magnificently practical" and instilled with Lloyd's "vast knowledge."

Lloyd once told CA: "I am first and foremost a plantsman, but with a strong interest in the use and arrangement of plants for effect, principally in private gardens. I have … taken to travel and lecturing in the United States and Canada, making many new friends and finding great stimulus there. I am also much visited at Great Dixter, which is open to the public, afternoons, April to October."

Lloyd's philosophy of gardening is to revel in the untraditional and not be afraid to try unconventional plants and combinations. In a 2003 speech quoted by Valerie Easton in the Seattle Times, the horticultural expert explained: "I hate to preach restraint because I so rarely practice it myself."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 1994, George Cohen, review of Garden Flowers from Seed, p. 386; April 15, 1998, Raul Nino, review of Gardener Cook, p. 1406; May 15, 2004, Alice Joyce, review of Meadows, p. 1587.

Horticulture, February, 1994, Ann Lovejoy, review of Christopher Lloyd's Flower Garden, p. 60; November, 1994, Ann Lovejoy, review of Garden Flowers from Seed, p. 70; April, 1996, Thomas Fischer, review of In My Garden, p. 79.

Library Journal, October 15, 2000, Phillip Oliver, review of Christopher Lloyd's Garden Flowers: Perennials, Bulbs, Grasses, Ferns, p. 92; May 1, 2004, Robert Eagan, review of Meadows, p. 133.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, March 11, 1984, Barbara Saltzman, review of The Adventurous Gardener, p. 6; July 8, 1984, Barbara Saltzman, review of The Well-Chosen Garden, p. BW8.

Natural History, May 1999, Anne Raver, review of The Adventurous Gardener, p. 16.

New York Times Book Review, June 3, 1984, Linda Yang, review of The Well-Chosen Garden, p. 7; December 3, 2000, Verlyn Klinkenborg, review of Christopher Lloyd's Garden Flowers.

People, April 16, 1984, reviews of The Well-Chosen Garden and The Adventurous Gardener, p. 24.

Publishers Weekly, July 20, 1990, review of The Cottage Garden, p. 59; March 29, 1993, review of Christopher Lloyd's Flower Garden, p. 51; May 3, 1999, review of The Cottage Garden, p. 71.

Seattle Times, August 24, 2003, Valerie Easton, "In the Garden, Let Go."

Sunset, November, 1984, review of The Well-Chosen Garden, p. 267.

Times Literary Supplement, October 16, 1970, review of The Well-Tempered Garden; February 22, 1985, Ruth Isabel Ross, review of The Well-Chosen Garden.

ONLINE

Garden Visit Home Page, http://www.gardenvisit.com/ (March 22, 2006), biography of Christopher Lloyd.

OBITUARIES:

PERIODICALS

Economist, February 2, 2006.

Guardian (London), January 30, 2006.

ONLINE

Telegraph Newspaper Online, http://www.telegraph.co.uk (March 22, 2006).