Talk:Georg Arends Georg Adalbert Arends (1863–1952) was a German

horticulturist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

. He is best known for his work with

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

plants.

Education and training

Arends was born to the

nurseryman A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry, or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general ...

Karl Arends and Sophie Steckel on 21 September 1863 in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. Since he was the seventh of twelve children and was not the eldest son, he was not expected to inherit the family's plant nursery. He nevertheless became interested in plants, training at

Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute The Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute was founded in 1872 and is located in the town of Geisenheim, in Germany's Rheingau region. In 1876 Swiss-born professor Hermann Müller joined the institute, where he developed his namesake grape variety ...

and completing an apprenticeship at the Botanical Garden of Breslau. Arends moved to the United Kingdom in 1885, where he was exposed to a relaxed garden style that differed from the German trend in putting more emphasis on perennials than on shrubs. After a year of working in a nursery in

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

, Arends went to the

Imperial Free City of Trieste The Imperial Free City of Trieste and its Territory (, ) was a possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the Holy Roman Empire from the 14th century to 1806, a constituent part of the German Confederation and the Austrian Littoral from 1849 to 1920, ...

, where he was trained by

Giulio Perotti Giulio () is an Italian given name. It is also used as a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name A–K * Giulio Alberoni (1664–1752), Italian cardinal and statesman * Giulio Alenio (1582–1649), Italian Jesuit missionary and s ...

Career

Arends returned to his homeland in 1888, and started a nursery in

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

. The business took off. On 14 May 1891, he married Helene Pfeifer, with whom he had two sons, Erich and Werner. By the beginning of the 20th century, Arends started selectively breeding perennials. Among the earliest plants he bred selectively were ''

Astilbe ''Astilbe'' is a genus of 18 species of rhizome, rhizomatous flowering plants within the family (biology), family Saxifragaceae, native plant, native to mountain ravines and woodlands in Asia and North America. Some species are known by the comm ...

'', which gained popularity thanks to his work. Through hybridization he created more brightly colored plants known as ''Astilbe'' Arendsii Group. Phlox × arendsii originated in 1912, when Arends crossed the impressively blooming '' P. paniculata'' with the compact '' P. divaricata''. Another popular hybrid created by Arends is Aconitum x arendsii. Arends created around 350 hybrids that bear his name. Arends' nursery was almost entirely destroyed during the

Allied bombing of Germany World War II (1939–1945) involved sustained strategic bombing of railways, harbours, cities, workers' and civilian housing, and industrial districts in enemy territory. Strategic bombing as a military strategy is distinct both from close ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Arends and his sons rebuilt it, but its reputation faded as the ageing Arends refused to pass it on. Arends died on 5 March 1952 in Wuppertal-Ronsdorf. His business was inherited by his sons, but Erich sold his share to for housing development. The nursery established by Arends passed from Werner to his daughter Ursula, and it is today owned by her daughter Anja Maubach.

References

German horticulturists Nurserymen 1863 births 1952 deaths People from Essen {{Horticulture-stub