May 17, 1935

William Robinson (July 5, 1838 to May 17, 1935) was Irish. He was a gardener, and author whose writing about gardening was very influential. His books and a magazine "Gardening Illustrated for town and country" (launched in 1879) made him wealthy. What were his ideas about gardening? Robinson promoted a vision of simplicity in gardening-- no more bedding plants that had to be raised in a green house; no more manicured terraces, no more orderly rows of roses. He has been called the father of the English flower garden, that garden where color and shape fall together. His biographer, Richard Bisgrove, subtitled his book about William Robinson: The Wild Gardener. (2008).

Robinson, in books like The Wild Garden (1870) and Hardy Flowers (1871), encouraged the ethos which we know as the English cottage garden. In his magazine Robinson repeated his disdain for book learning. There was an advice column in the magazine, and tips on managing moles, moss, caterpillars, and -- cats, were published. One reader wrote in, and had his letter published, advising that trapping cats and drowning them, was a solution. Also to put bait in the traps if no one is watching. A more conservative reader pointed out that pouring water over the trapped cats, before release, might be enough to discourage the feline garden pest. Robinson's biographer Bisgrove, also wrote The National Trust Book of the English Garden (1990).