Tom Hart Dyke | |
---|---|
Born | 12 April 1976 |
Nationality | English |
Occupation(s) | Horticulturist, author, plant hunter |
Thomas Guy Hart Dyke (born 12 April 1976) is an English horticulturist, author and plant hunter from the Hart Dyke family. He is the son and heir of Guy and Sarah Hart Dyke at the family seat of Lullingstone Castle, Eynsford, Kent. [1] He is the designer of the World Garden of Plants located on the property. The World Garden contains approximately 8,000 species of plants, many collected by Hart Dyke from their native environments. He presented an episode of Great British Garden Revival in 2013. Tom Hart Dyke is a patron of the charity the British Cactus & Succulent Society. [2]
Hart Dyke attended Anthony Roper County Primary School in Eynsford and then transferred to St Michael's School in Otford. He attended Stanbridge Earls in Hampshire until age seventeen and then entered Sparsholt College Hampshire, near Winchester, where he studied tree surgery and forestry. [1]
In an interview in 2006, Hart Dyke credits his grandmother as having first interested him in plants, at age three. [1]
Tom Hart Dyke is first cousin of the English comedian Miranda Hart and nephew of Captain David Hart Dyke CBE LVO RN , commanding officer of HMS Coventry when it was sunk by the Argentinians in the 1982 Falklands conflict.
Hart Dyke follows a tradition of Victorian and Edwardian British plant hunters, such as Francis Masson, who undertook risks to acquire rare species of plant. In 2000, Hart Dyke was kidnapped by suspected FARC guerrillas in the Darién Gap between Panama and Colombia while hunting for rare orchids, a plant for which he has a particular passion.
He and his travel companion, Paul Winder, were held captive for nine months and threatened with death. He occupied himself by creating a design for a garden containing plants collected on his trips, laid out in the shape of a world map according to their continent of origin. [3]
Tom wrote about his experiences in Colombia in his book, The Cloud Garden. The story of his kidnapping ordeal was dramatised in the Sky1 documentary series My Holiday Hostage Hell.
On his return home, Hart Dyke put his design into practice in the family's Victorian herb garden. The story of the creation of The World Garden of Plants was the subject of a BBC2 6-episode series, "Save Lullingstone Castle" (KEO Films) in 2006. This was followed by a second 6-episode series, "Return To Lullingstone Castle" on BBC2 in 2007.
In May 2006, Hart Dyke brought an Australian Eucalyptus caesia plant, common name Silver Princess, to flower for the first time in the UK. [4] He was inspired by orchids at his first school, St Michaels, Otford, Kent.
The garden features include the Hot & Spikey house which contains over 1,000 varieties of cacti, succulents & bromeliads from all over the world. Hart Dyke is a patron of the charity the British Cactus & Succulent Society. [2]
Hart Dyke was featured in the PBS Nova programme in 2002, Orchid Hunter that documented his return to hunting rare orchids in dangerous terrain in another politically unstable area in Irian Jaya in the rainforests of Western New Guinea. [5]
The United States Botanic Garden (USBG) is a botanical garden on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., near the James A. Garfield Monument.
Eynsford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.3 miles (5 km) south east of Swanley, 7 miles (11 km) south of Dartford.
Sevenoaks is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Laura Trott, a Conservative who has served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury since July 2024. The seat was previously held by Michael Fallon, who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 2014 to 2017.
Bergerocactus emoryi is a species of cactus, known commonly as the golden-spined cereus, golden snake cactus, velvet cactus or golden club cactus. It is a relatively small cactus, but it can form dense thickets or colonies, with the dense yellow spines giving off a velvety appearance when backlit by the sun. From April to May, yellow, green-tinged flowers emerge, which transform into reddish, globular fruit. This species is native to the California Floristic Province, and is found in northwestern Baja California and a small part of California, in San Diego County and on the southern Channel Islands. Where the Mediterranean climate of the California Floristic Province collides with the subtropical Sonoran Desert near El Rosario, hybrids with two other species of cacti are found. It is the sole member of the monotypic genus Bergerocactus, named after German botanist Alwin Berger.
Sir William Hart Dyke, 7th Baronet PC, DL, JP was an English Conservative politician and tennis pioneer.
Lullingstone Castle is a historic manor house, set in an estate in the village of Lullingstone and the civil parish of Eynsford in the English county of Kent. It has been inhabited by members of the Hart Dyke family for twenty generations including current owner Tom Hart Dyke.
Eynsford Castle is a ruined medieval fortification in Eynsford, Kent. Built on the site of an earlier Anglo-Saxon stone burh, the castle was constructed by William de Eynsford, probably between 1085 and 1087, to protect the lands of Lanfranc, the Archbishop of Canterbury, from Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux. It comprised an inner and an outer bailey, the former protected by a stone curtain wall. In 1130 the defences were improved, and a large stone hall built in the inner bailey. The de Eynsford family held the castle until their male line died out in 1261, when it was divided equally between the Heringaud and de Criol families. A royal judge, William Inge, purchased half of the castle in 1307, and arguments ensued between him and his co-owner, Nicholas de Criol, who ransacked Eynsford in 1312. The castle was never reoccupied and fell into ruins, and in the 18th century it was used to hold hunting kennels and stables. The ruins began to be restored after 1897, work intensifying after 1948 when the Ministry of Works took over the running of the castle. In the 21st century, Eynsford Castle is managed by English Heritage and is open to visitors.
Sparsholt College is a Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) college located at Sparsholt near Winchester, with a secondary campus in Andover, both in Hampshire in the south of England. The college provides courses from sixth form to degree level.
The waymarked path Darent Valley Path is 19 miles (31 km) long, following the River Darent from the banks of the River Thames at Dartford through the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the Greensand Hills above Sevenoaks. It runs through the villages of Shoreham and Otford.
The Huntington Desert Garden is part of The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. The Desert Garden is one of the world's largest and oldest collections of cacti, succulents and other desert plants, collected from throughout the world. It contains plants from extreme environments, many of which were acquired by Henry E. Huntington and William Hertrich in trips taken to several countries in North, Central and South America. One of the Huntington's most botanically important gardens, the Desert Garden brought together a group of plants largely unknown and unappreciated in the beginning of the 1900s. Containing a broad category of xerophytes, the Desert Garden grew to preeminence and remains today among the world's finest, with more than 5,000 species in the 10 acre garden.
Orchid hunting is the search for orchid plants in the wild. The orchid plants are usually being acquired for the commercial market, where there was, and still is, significant demand for these unusual flowering plants.
Lullingstone Country Park is near Eynsford, in Kent, England. A former deer park of a large estate, it was later sold to become an open-space and woodland park. The park and Lullingstone Castle are a Scheduled Monument, and an area of 66.4-hectare (164-acre) is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest Kent.
Julian Marshall was an English music and print collector, tennis player and writer.
Captain David Hart Dyke is a retired Royal Navy officer, former aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth II, and former commanding officer of HMS Coventry, which was sunk during the Falklands War.
Zoe Dyke was a British pioneer of British sericulture. The silk created in her businesses has been used by British Royalty including the wedding dresses of Queen Elizabeth II and Diana, Princess of Wales.
John Jacob Lavranos was a Greek/South African insurance broker and botanist, with a special interest in succulents. The standard author abbreviation Lavranos is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name. He scientifically described almost 300 new species of plants, and a number have been named in his honor.
Gordon Douglas Rowley (1921–2019) was a British botanist and writer specialising in cacti and succulents.
The British Cactus & Succulent Society (BCSS) was founded in 1983 by the coalition of The National Cactus and Succulent Society and The Cactus and Succulent Society of Great Britain. There are over 80 local branches around the UK that organise local activities including shows, talks and markets. The national Society also organises talks, shows and international conventions. The current patrons are Anne Swithinbank and Tom Hart Dyke.
St Botolph's Church is an Anglican church in the village of Lullingstone, in Kent, England, situated on the lawn of Lullingstone Castle. It dates from the 14th century with later modifications, and it is a Grade I listed building.
Wendell S. Minnich, better known as "Woody" Minnich, is an American field explorer, photographer, grower, and lecturer primarily known for his extensive field documentation of cacti and succulents.