Elizabeth Banks CBE (born 1941), [1] is a retired British landscape architect specializing in the restoration of historic landscapes who was the first woman and professional horticulturalist to be president of the Royal Horticultural Society [2] from 2010 to 2013. She was appointed a CBE for services to horticulture in 2017. [1]
After starting her business in 1987, Banks designed Rosemoor Gardens for the RHS. Over several years she also designed six gardens installed at the Chelsea Flower Show and was awarded a Gold medal for five of them. Banks served as president of the Royal Horticultural Society from 2010 to 2013. She was the first professional horticulturalist to hold this position. [3] She succeeded Giles Coode-Adams, who had held the position from 2008–2010. [4]
Banks and her husband, Lawrence, managed Hergest Croft Gardens from 1988–2010, when their younger son, Edward, took over. During this time, they designed and planted the Maple Grove, as well as other exotic trees. [1] They moved to live at Ridgebourne, in Herefordshire. [5]
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the Great Spring Show, is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in Chelsea, London. Held at Chelsea since 1912, the show is attended by members of the British Royal Family.
RHS Britain in Bloom is the largest horticultural campaign in the United Kingdom. It was first held in 1963, initiated by the British Tourist Board based on the example set by Fleurissement de France, which since 1959 has promoted the annual Concours des villes et villages fleuris. It has been organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) since 2002.
RHS Garden Wisley is a garden run by the Royal Horticultural Society in Wisley, Surrey, south of London. It is one of five gardens run by the society, the others being Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall, Rosemoor, and Bridgewater. Wisley is the second most visited paid entry garden in the United Kingdom after the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, with 1,232,772 visitors in 2019.
Dame Sylvia Crowe, DBE was an English landscape architect and garden designer.
Sir Geoffrey Allan Jellicoe was an English architect, town planner, landscape architect, garden designer, landscape and garden historian, lecturer and author. His strongest interest was in landscape and garden design.
Thomas Andrew Knight (1759–1838), FRS, of Elton Hall in the parish of Elton in Herefordshire and later of Downton Castle, was a British horticulturalist and botanist. He served as the 2nd President of the Royal Horticultural Society (1811–1838).
The Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society.
Hadlow College is a further and higher education college in Hadlow, Kent, England, with a satellite site in Greenwich. The curriculum primarily covers land-based subjects including Agriculture, Horticulture, Conservation and Wildlife Management, Animal Management, Fisheries Management, Equine Studies and Floristry. Additionally, intermediate and advanced apprenticeships are offered in Golf Greenkeeping, Sports Turf, Agriculture, Horticulture and Land-based Engineering.
Edward Augustus Bowles was a British horticulturalist, plantsman and garden writer. He developed an important garden at Myddelton House, his lifelong home at Bulls Cross in Enfield, Middlesex and his name has been preserved in many varieties of plant. The standard author abbreviation Bowles is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
Sorbus vilmorinii, the Vilmorin's rowan or Vilmorin's mountain ash, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae, native to Sichuan, Tibet and Yunnan in China.
The Veitch Memorial Medal is an international prize issued annually by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).
Arabella Lennox-Boyd, Lady Lennox-Boyd is an Italian-born English garden designer.
David Martin Domoney, C Hort. FCI Hort is an English Chartered Horticulturist and celebrity gardener. He co-presents the TV gardening programme Love Your Garden, alongside Alan Titchmarsh, and is the resident gardener on ITV1's This Morning.[3]
Carolyn HardyOBE was a British horticulturalist. She chaired the National Gardens Scheme (1979-1986) and was vice-chair of the Royal Horticultural Society for 10 years.
Richard Knight (1659–1745), of Downton Hall, in the parish of Downton on the Rock in Herefordshire, England, was a wealthy ironmaster who operated the Bringewood Ironworks, on the Downton estate, and founded a large fortune and family dynasty.
Hugh Ronalds was an esteemed nurseryman and horticulturalist in Brentford, who published Pyrus Malus Brentfordiensis: or, a Concise Description of Selected Apples (1831). His plants were some of the first European species to be shipped to Australia when the British colony was founded.
Sue-Anne Hilbre Biggs was the Director General of the Royal Horticultural Society, retiring in June 2022 as the longest-serving Director General in the charity's history. Biggs began her career in the travel industry, where she worked for 30 years, and was awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award by the Travel Weekly Globe Travel Awards. She was made a CBE in the 2017 New Year Honours, for her services to the environment at ornamental horticulture industries.
Charles Quest-Ritson is an English horticulturalist and garden writer. He is one of Britain's foremost rosarians and is the author of the RHS Encyclopedia of Roses and American Rose Society Encyclopedia of Roses. He was a director of the Royal National Rose Society and founder of the Historic Roses Group. Some of his books are co-authored with his wife, Brigid Quest-Ritson.
William Lawrence Banks CBE DL VMH was vice president of the Royal Horticultural Society from 1992 until 2022.