Ken Gillanders OAM is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

botanist,

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 ...

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 ...

and

plantman Plantman is the name of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The Samuel Smithers version of Plantman first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #113 and was created by Stan Lee, J ...

from

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. Ken, a nurseryman for over 50 years (now retired),adulteducation.tas.gov.au
/ref> and his wife Lesley started Woodbank Nursery on a bush block in Tasmania. Woodbank Nursery specialized in rare, exotic, unusual and native plants. As their nursery and its reputation grew so did their spectacular gardens containing many rare plants. Ken and Lesley collected seeds in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, China,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, and Lesotho. Ken cultivated and propagated many Tasmanian natives including Leatherwood cultivars. Woodbank Gardens

Ken has presented horticultural papers in the UK, Japan and

. He is co-author of "Know Your Rock Garden Plants and Dwarf Bulbs". In 2002 retirement came, many Australian and overseas collectors were devastated describing the nursery's closure as a "tragedy". Ken and Lesley stayed on in their garden of botanical treasures and have increased its size to cover over . Nowadays they travel overseas taking photos of plants in flower, instead of collecting seed. The nursery was known as Woodbank Gardens from 2003 to early 2012 and hosted small events on occasions. In early 2012 and Ken and Lesley sold their nursery to another private owner. In June 2004, on the

Queen's Birthday The King's Official Birthday (alternatively the Queen's Official Birthday when the monarch is female) is the selected day in the United Kingdom and most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of the monarch is officially celebrated in those ...

, Ken was awarded an

Order of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for service to Horticulture. Ken is currently the Australian Rhododendron Registrar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillanders, Ken Australian gardeners 20th-century Australian botanists Australian nurserymen Australian horticulturists Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Living people Nurserymen 1930 births