John Craig Wallace (31 July 1928 – 18 November 2020) was a horticulturalist and writer. He was Director of Parks for Belfast City Council (1972–1988) and founded the Rose Society of Northern Ireland.

Personal life and education

John Craig Wallace attended

Ballymena Academy Ballymena Academy is a mixed gender grammar school in the market town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1828 as a small provincial school for children in the town and surrounding agricultural hinterland. Admissi ...

. After gaining some practical experience in

horticulture 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 ...

, Wallace gained a distinction in the general horticultural course at Greenmount College of Agriculture and Horticulture, County Antrim. In 1948 he took a degree in horticultural science at

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

. He married and had two sons.

Career

Wallace worked at Samuel McGredy and Son, a company that bred and raised

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

s, immediately after leaving school. After completing his degree, he joined the horticultural education and advisory service of the Ministry of Agriculture in Northern Ireland. He was promoted to co-ordinating this service in 1953. He was Director of Parks for Belfast City Council from 1972 until 1988 and during this time directed repair of the Palm House and Tropical Ravine in the Botanic Gardens and the restoration of Malone House in Barnett Demesne as well as several other places that came into council ownership including Clement Wilson Park, Knocknagoney Linear Park,

Danny Blanchflower Robert Dennis Blanchflower (10 February 1926 – 9 December 1993) was a former Northern Ireland footballer, football manager and journalist who played for and captained Tottenham Hotspur, including during their double-winning season of 1960� ...

Playing Fields and

Cavehill Cave Hill or Cavehill is a rocky hill overlooking the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland, with a height of . It is marked by basalt cliffs and caves, and its distinguishing feature is 'Napoleon's Nose', a tall cliff which resembles the profile ...

Country Park. He also introduced more planting of street trees, floral displays and hanging baskets in the city. He led development of the City of Belfast International Rose Gardens in collaboration with Sam McGredy IV and also began trials of new varieties in

Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park The Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park is a park in South Belfast, Northern Ireland, covering almost and is accessible from the Upper Malone Road. It includes meadows, woodland, riverside fields, formal rose gardens, a walled garden and a Japanese ...

in 1964. He founded the Rose Society of Northern Ireland and was Secretary (1964–1972) and then President (1988–2018). In 1978 Wallace made sure that Northern Ireland was included in the ''Britain in Bloom'' contests. He retired in 1988. Wallace wrote about gardening in the ''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...

'' from 1960 until 2001, as well as several horticultural magazines. He was awarded the RHS Associate of Honour in 1981 for his work with Belfast parks,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

in 1987 for services to horticulture and the Royal National Rose Society Silver Medal (2004).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, John Craig 1928 births 2020 deaths Alumni of the University of Reading Horticulturists from Northern Ireland Scientists from Belfast Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Ballymena Academy