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Christopher Lloyd (Christo) 1921-2006

Renowned garden writter, Christopher Lloyd, affectionately called "Christo" by his friends, passed away January 27, 2006.

UBC Botanical Garden staff and Friends of the Garden share their memories of Christopher Lloyd:

I like to think I knew Christopher Lloyd pretty well, having both stayed at Dixter on a number of occasions and corresponded with him for fifteen years. Still, I think it was pretty easy for anybody to know Christo if they spent any amount of time with him. He was exactly who he appeared to be. Some people didn’t like what they saw. I recommended him to a good friend who was travelling to England some years ago, and upon meeting, they had an instant, mutual dislike. He certainly didn’t have that effect on me—he could be obstreperous, inflexible and demanding, and even unkind, but he was also a brilliant teacher, a scientist, an enviable artist, an excellent cook and the best writer I’ve ever met. I found I could reconcile the various aspects of his character and generally enjoy his company.

In person, Christo could be very entertaining. His ideas about gardening (as anyone can see from his writing) are adventurous and experimental, but they never resort to cheap tricks and are always based on the best horticultural foundations and practices. Walking around his or any garden with him was a pleasure. I recall a summer visit to Dixter when I noticed a planting of Smyrnium perfoliatum scattered beautifully among other plants. I told him I thought the euphorbias looked fantastic there. He laughed at me and muttered, “Not euphorbias,” leaving me to ponder both my obvious botanical ignorance, and also the horrifying demonstration of that ignorance in front of the most eminent horticulturist I was probably ever going to know. Lucky for me that on closer inspection, I could see this euphorbia was obviously a carrot (Symrnium is an annual umbellifer) and I told him so. The garden at Dixter is so full of wonderful, unusual plants, I suppose Christo could easily forgive someone for not recognizing all of them. I learned to examine his plants very closely before blurting out a guess, and he apparently appreciated the effort students put in to figuring things out, but he was quick to shoot a withering look or make a stinging comment if a stupid assumption was made.

He was always full of surprises. Much has been written about Christo’s replacing of the rose garden, which was evidently very dear to his mother, with a (sub)tropical garden. He liked to remark that people hated change—of course, he took great pleasure in rubbing people’s noses in it, but he could be subtle. I remember I mistook a most stunning Himalayacalamus falconeri for a non-bambusoid grass, as I’d never seen anything like it before. The culms of this bamboo are so lax and graceful that he planted it in a raised container so that the terminal leaves would not lie on the ground (“the ground” being one of the numerous examples of Sir Edwin Lutyens beautiful stone paving). To preserve the lightness of the bamboo’s open habit, he had not only pruned the oldest stems away but also all of the youngest, stiffer culms. I think he told me that this effect could be prolonged for a year, and then repeated every couple without any harm to the clump. It is was one of the simplest expressions of sophisticated horticulture I’d seen and it nearly made me weep it was so elegant.

A few years ago, I saw the same H. falconeri, but now Christo wanted to forego its graceful charms (and the bother of a complicated pruning strategy), and instead play up the architectural nature of the newly emerged, rod-like culms, which are extraordinarily sculptural with their whorls of abbreviated nodal leaves. This time, it was planted in the ground and treated somewhat like a raspberry; i.e., he cut out all of the previous year’s shoots at the end of summer. Now it was incredibly statuesque and certainly interesting, but I really wanted to see it as I had before; but then, I want him to be there, at Dixter, for the next time, too.

Douglas Justice, Associate Director - Curator of Collections and Research Scientist, UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research



Mr. Lloyd held strong botanical passions that were magnificent, if a little alarming, to behold. I witnessed one particular incident that always makes me smile when I think about it. As a boy I would often go with my mother (a keen gardener) to Great Dixter to look at the garden and to buy plants. To purchase a plant in those days (late sixties, early seventies) one took it from the nursery to the potting shed where, often as not, Mr. Lloyd himself sat, taking the cash and sometimes dispensing wisdom. On one occasion I recall two redoubtable lady gardeners discussing plants together in the nursery. "What an ugly plant!" one of them said. Now, nothing irritated Mr. Lloyd more than the maligning of his favourite plants. From deep within the potting shed something stirred. A voice boomed out: "I'm sure the plant thinks the same about you, madam!" There is no answer to that, and none was forthcoming, but the facial expressions I will remember forever, as well as the slight feeling of schadenfreude one gained from having escaped excoriation.

Quentin Cronk, Director, UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research and Professor, UBC Plant Sciences Graduate Programme



"There are garden books that are practical, and there are garden books that look good on your coffee table. And then there are garden books that you read in bed even if you don't have a garden. Such are the books of the very English, very opinionated and very snobbish Christopher Lloyd."

Alex Waterhouse-Hayward, /Western Living/, April 2001



We were indeed fortunate to have Christo in our lives, not only for his writing but to have him with us as a speaker. I was able to get to know him when my husband and I stayed at Great Dixter the following spring. He was such fun. What an honour to walk the grounds of Dixter with Christo as he critiqued every plant. Visitors to the gardens would stare at him in awe.

Christo had knee surgery late last year that did not heal well. He had a second operation early this month and was recovering well initially, though his heart was weak. He was taken to intensive care for three days to clear blood clots. That problem was resolved and he was even able to walk. Suddenly he had a massive, debilitating stroke.

I have kept every email, letter and card Christo ever sent and will cherish them. The last one was dated December 21. Under that crabby demeanor was a lovely and very affectionate man. I will miss him.

Barbara (Barbara organized a local visit of Christopher Lloyd and Fergus Garrett in 2003)



Douglas Justice asked me to organize the Vancouver portion [sponsored by UBC Botanical Garden and Vancouver Hardy Plant Group] of the North American visit of Christopher Lloyd and Fergus Garrett in May 2003. It was a great adventure and such an exciting event. I was privileged to spend a bit of time with the two visitors and was exceedingly impressed with the great friendship, admiration, generosity and caring shared by the two men.

The following paragraph from a January 14, 2006 Daily Telegraph article illustrates this thought:

"Fergus says that the mark I have left is not just on the garden but also on the people I have been with in it, including himself. I think it is true that I did inspire him at an important stage in his life. Now it works even more strongly in the opposite direction. He has been my head gardener for fifteen years or so and he takes the lead. But we still work as a partnership and discuss every proposed change, in situ. Ideas come to both of us as we talk, and this is the way a partnership should be - that is, reciprocal. My mind works slowly, now, but Fergus always wants to include me, never wants to hog it, although he is wonderful at taking responsibility."

Beverley, Friends of the Garden member



Perhaps a lesser-known fact about Christopher Lloyd is that, besides being the consummate gardener, he also became a passionate cook. After the death of his mother in the early 1970s, his friends, who came to stay, began to weary of his "fry-ups" and so, Christopher decided to study the culinary arts. He had always grown fruits and vegetables at Great Dixter and now decided what could be more natural than to use them effectively in the kitchen. After 20 years he said, "I have had so much enjoyment from growing plants, from eating their products and for the social opportunities cookery opens up that I wanted to write about it and, perhaps to strike an answering chord in some of my readers." Thus was born his book, Gardener Cook. Invitations to Great Dixter were now accepted with alacrity!

Liz, Friends of the Garden member



The highlight of a garden tour of Southern England, taken nearly thirty years ago, was Christopher Lloyd and his garden. We were led through a garden filled with tradition yet with the most up to date plantings by a man with an extraordinary ability to verbalize his ideas. Two plants stood out. One was Itea ilicifolia, trained on a wall to show its handsome glistening foliage and long tassels to best advantage. It took me a few years to succeed with this shrub. Once I eliminated any danger of wet feet and gave it perfect drainage it thrived and remains to this day a reminder of Christopher Lloyd. The second standout of that long ago visit was Clematis texensis, the real species. He was extremely proud of this seldom seen climber. He belongs in the same league as Gertrude Jekyll and E.A. Bowles. For me, along with Beth Chatto, Christopher Lloyd is the most prominent gardener of the 20th century.

Margaret, Friends of the Garden member



I went to hear Christopher Lloyd a few years ago - in Vancouver on campus - can't even remember where or when. He was talking about a plant, the likes of which I can't remember either. His quote:

"It's such a dumpy little plant, it makes you want to kick it."

This line still comes up for me in many aspects of my life and always brings a little smile and a little giggle.

Diane, Friends of the Garden member



This is from his introductory chapter in Foliage Plants (1973, revised 1985) - "…like every other author who wishes to be read, I have to be thinking of you even harder than you are of me," and he must have, always, as his words engage, delight and provoke. To read his books is to have a wonderfully articulate and sometimes challenging gardening friend, as part of our gardening education. How lucky we are to have his books, and through them still hear his voice. I last saw him at Dixter, leaning on his stick in the June sunshine, answering questions from garden visitors, all the while keeping an eye on Fergus who was digging over a bed with lovely great clumps of Gladiolus byzantinus.

Kathy, Friends of the Garden member


Links:


  • A conifer is for life Christopher Lloyd's last article - published in The Guardian Unlimited on January 28, 2006, one day after his passing. Links to ten of Lloyd's recent articles can be found at the bottom of the left column.

  • Great Dixter House & Gardens The Website of Mr. Lloyd's garden, Great Dixter lists information for visitors and links to some of his articles.


Several newspapers have written memorial articles about Christopher Lloyd. Each offers a different view and a few distinctively frank quotes from Mr. Lloyd.


Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:35 PM on February 3, 2006

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