Donald Wyman (1904 — 6 December 1993) was an American horticulturist, the head of horticulture at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Arnold Arboretum The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is a botanical research institution and free public park, located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1872, it is the oldest public arboretum in N ...

from 1935 to 1970. He took a bachelor's degree in horticulture from

Pennsylvania State College The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

(1926) and a master's in forestry (1933), then a PhD in horticulture at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

(1935). He joined the Arboretum in 1935 and served for six months without salary in the depths of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

before being named horticulturist in 1936. He was the author of many books, including ''Wyman's Gardening Encyclopedia'' (1971) and was a frequent contributor to the journal '' Arnoldia''. Wyman served as president, director, and trustee of the

American Horticultural Society The American Horticultural Society (AHS) is a nonprofit, membership-based organization that promotes excellence in American horticulture. It is headquartered at River Farm in Alexandria, Virginia. History Established in 1922, the AHS is one of t ...

. At the Arnold Arboretum he departed from the original method of planting by botanical association, to mark vistas and turns with specimen trees, and was energetic in acquiring seeds of many species that he introduced to American horticulture. He retired in 1970. He received the George Robert White Medal from the

Massachusetts Horticultural Society The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, sometimes abbreviated to MassHort, is an American horticultural society based in Massachusetts. It describes itself as the oldest formally organized horticultural institution in the United States. In its m ...

(1970), the Liberty Hyde Bailey Medal from the

the Veitch Memorial Medal The Veitch Memorial Medal is an international prize issued annually by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Goal The prize is awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement o ...

from 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 (Nort ...

(1969) and the Medal of Honor from the

Garden Club of America The Garden Club of America is a nonprofit organization made up of around 18,000 club members and 200 local garden clubs around the United States. Founded in 1913, by Elizabeth Price Martin and Ernestine Abercrombie Goodman, it promotes the record ...

(1965). The widely planted

crabapple ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native plant, native to the temper ...

''Malus "Donald Wyman"'' was named for him upon his retirement in 1970.

Selected works

Aside from hundreds of professional articles in the Arboretum's journal ''Arnoldia'' he published *''Shrubs and Vines for American Gardens'' (1949, 3rd rev. ed 1969, 1971) *''Trees for American Gardens'' (1951, 1972, 1977, 1990)
''Wyman's Gardening Encyclopedia''
(1971, 1977, 1987) which, according to Amazon, has sold more than 100,000 copies. *''The Arnold Arboretum Garden Book'' (1954) *''Ground Cover Plants'' (1956) *''The Saturday Morning Gardener: A Guide to Once-A-Week Maintenance'' (1974) *''Dwarf Shrubs: Maintenance-free woody plants for today's gardens'' (1975)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyman, Robert American horticulturists 1904 births 1993 deaths Cornell University alumni Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences alumni 20th-century American botanists Veitch Memorial Medal recipients