David Wheeler (1945) is a British gardener, writer and journalist. He founded the literary gardening quarterly '' Hortus'' in 1987 and continues as its editor. In 2009 the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

awarded him their Gold Veitch Memorial Medal.

Life and career

Wheeler was born in the Cotswolds and lived there until the age of 11, when the family moved to his mother's home town on the Hampshire coast. With an early interest in plants and gardens, he bought ''Amateur Gardening'' and ''Popular Gardening'', "concealing them the best I could - boys in the late Fifties and swinging Sixties didn't buy gardening magazines," he told

the Oldie ''The Oldie'' is a British monthly magazine written for older people "as a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity", according to its website. The magazine was launched in 1992 by Richard Ingrams, who was its edit ...

. During the 1960s and 1970s, Wheeler worked as an adveristing executive at Southern Evening Echo,

Observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Fiction * ''Observer'' (novel), a 2023 science fiction novel by Robert Lanza and Nancy Kress * ''Observer'' (video game), a cyberpunk horr ...

, and

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

. From 1979 to 1982 he was campaigns director at the RSPCA, before moving into freelance gardening. In 1987, Wheeler founded the gardening quarterly '' Hortus''. Marking its 25 years in 2012,

the Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

wrote, "Hortus is the size of a slim paperback but printed on heavy, ivory colored stock and illustrated with line drawings and wood engravings... It produces tactile and aesthetic pleasures once taken for granted and now made acute by their rarity. Wheeler has a motto that Hortus 'is for gardeners who read and readers who garden'." With more than 2,000 subscribers, it has been listed by ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' as one of the best gardening magazines to read. In 1993, Wheeler founded the quarterly ''Convivium: The Journal of Good Eating'' (dedicated to the memory of his friend the food writer

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David ( Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and books about Europea ...

CBE), sharing the same production values as '' Hortus''. It ran for just two years – all eight issues now being highly sought-after collectors' items. Wheeler and his partner, Simon Dorrell, moved to Bryan's Ground, an

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

house near

Presteigne Presteigne (; : the church of St. Andrew) is a town and community (Wales), community on the south bank of the River Lugg in Powys, Wales. The town is located on the England–Wales border, which surrounds it to the north, east and south. Nearby ...

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

, where they created an extensive garden featuring yew and box topiary, formal parterres, canals, wisteria-garlanded terraces and several buildings and follies created by Simon. It has been described as one of the 10 best secret gardens in Britain by '' Country Life''. The Telegraph described it as 'an Edwardian idyll,' while the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

''Gardens Illustrated'' called it an "idyllic, quintessentially English garden". In 2009 the Royal Horticultural Society awarded him their coveted Gold Veitch Memorial Medal in recognition of services given in the advancement of science and practice of horticulture. Wheeler contributes frequently to several other British and foreign newspapers and periodicals. He now lives and gardens near the sea in

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

and takes a special interest in hydrangeas, '' Iris sibirica'', Japanese maples, auriculas and

clematis ''Clematis'' is a genus of about 380 species within the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Their garden hybrids and cultivars have been popular among gardeners, beginning with ''Clematis'' 'Jackmanii', a garden staple since 1862; more cultivars ...

Publications

* ''By Pen & by Spade: An Anthology of Garden Writing from Hortus'', published by Summit Books, 1990 * ''The Generous Garden: A Second Anthology of Garden Writing from Hortus'', published by A. Sutton, 1991 * ''Panoramas of English Gardens'', published by Little, Brown, 1991 * ''Over the Hills from Broadway: Images of Cotswold Gardens'', illustrated by Simon Dorrell, published by Alan Sutton, 1991 * ''The Penguin Book of Garden Writing'', published by Viking, 1996 * ''Glyndebourne: A Garden for All Seasons'', illustrated by Simon Dorrell, published by Bryansground Press, 2000 * ''Hortus Revisited: A Twenty-first Birthday Anthology'', published by Frances Lincoln, 2008

References

External links

Hortus website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, David 1945 births Living people English gardeners Veitch Memorial Medal recipients Gardening in the United Kingdom English garden writers British gardeners