Mary Louise Butcher "Polly" Hill (January 30, 1907 – April 25, 2007) was an American

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 ...

best known for testing how well plants could survive in cold climates. She founded the

Polly Hill Arboretum The Polly Hill Arboretum includes 8 ha (20 acres) under cultivation, with an additional 16 ha (40 acres) of native woodland, located on Martha's Vineyard at 809 State Road, West Tisbury, Massachusetts, United States. It has been developed since 1 ...

Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the ...

. Born in

Ardmore, Pennsylvania Ardmore is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) spanning the border between Delaware and Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 12,455 at the 2010 census and had risen to 13,566 in the ...

, she graduated in 1928 from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

. She went to Japan to teach English and learned about flower arrangement there. After returning to the United States, she studied botany and horticulture at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

. She began her work in 1958 after inheriting what is now the arboretum from her parents.

Death

Hill died in

Hockessin, Delaware Hockessin () is a census-designated place (CDP) in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 13,527 at the 2010 census. History Hockessin came into existence as a little village in 1688 when several families settled in the a ...

at age 100.Hevesi, Dennis (April 30, 2007)
"Polly Hill Is Dead at 100; Tested Hardiness of Plants"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''; accessed July 22, 2017.

References

External links

Polly Hill Arboretum
1907 births 2007 deaths Vassar College alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni American centenarians Women centenarians {{US-botanist-stub