Georg Adalbert Arends (1863–1952) was a German

horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

. 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 t ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

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 p ...

Karl Arends and Sophie Steckel on 21 September 1863 in

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') 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 D ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

. 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 town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

, Arends went to the

Imperial Free City of Trieste The Imperial Free City of Trieste and its Territory (german: Reichsunmittelbare Stadt Triest und ihr Gebiet, it, Città Imperiale di Trieste e Dintorni) was a possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the Holy Roman Empire from the 14th century to 1 ...

, where he was trained by Giulio Perotti.

Career

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

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

. 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Arends and his sons rebuilt it, but its reputation faded as the aging 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 {{Horticulture-stub