Wilkie, David

David Wilkie was a leading authority on horticulture. He was interested in all living plants, but his chief interest lay in plants from mountainous regions of the world. His career started as a student gardener at RBGE in 1906 at the age of 14 - a time when plants new to European horticulture were being introduced to the U.K. from the Himalayan regions - he dedicated a large part of his life to the cultivation and study of these plants, becoming a recognised authority, gaining some of the highest awards in horticulture, including an R.H.S. Associateship of Honour in 1946. In 1933 he was part of the group responsible for the formation of the Scottish Rock Garden Club, of which he became President in 1959. He was also a member of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, holding the Presidentship in 1951. Wilkie's book on Gentians was published in 1936. L.P. from Wilkie's obituary in the Scotsman.