Tom Hart Dyke
Encyclopedia
Thomas Guy Hart Dyke is an English
horticulturist
and plant hunter. He is the son and heir of Guy and Sarah Hart Dyke at the family seat
of Lullingstone Castle
, Eynsford
, Kent
. He is the designer of the World Garden of Plants located on the property. The World Garden contains over 10,000 species of plants, many collected by Hart Dyke from their native environments.
and then transferred to St. Michael's School in Otford
. He attended Stanbridge Earls
in Hampshire
until age seventeen and then entered Sparsholt College Hampshire
, near Winchester, where he studied tree surgery and forestry
.
In an interview in 2006, Hart Dyke credits his grandmother (Gran) as having first interested him in plants at age three.
Tom Hart Dyke is first cousin of the British comedian Miranda Hart
.
and Edwardian British plant hunters, such as Francis Masson
, who risked life and limb to acquire rare species of plant. In 2000, Hart Dyke was kidnapped by suspected FARC guerillas in the Darien Gap
between Panama
and Colombia
while hunting for rare orchids, a plant for which he has a particular passion. He and his travel companion, Paul Winder, were held captive for nine months and threatened with death. He kept himself going by creating a design for a garden containing plants collected on his trips, laid out in the shape of a world map according to their continent of origin. Tom wrote about his experiences in Colombia in the book, The Cloud Garden.
plant (common name Silver Princess) to flower for the first time in the UK.
He was inspired by orchids at his first school, St. Michaels, Otford, Kent.
Hart Dyke featured in the PBS
Nova
program in 2002, Orchid Hunter that documented his return to hunting rare orchids in dangerous terrain in another politically unstable area in Irian Jaya in the rainforests of Western New Guinea
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
horticulturist
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
and plant hunter. He is the son and heir of Guy and Sarah Hart Dyke at the family seat
Landed gentry
Landed gentry is a traditional British social class, consisting of land owners who could live entirely off rental income. Often they worked only in an administrative capacity looking after the management of their own lands....
of Lullingstone Castle
Lullingstone Castle
Lullingstone Castle is a historic manor house, set in an estate in the village of Lullingstone and the civil parish of Eynsford in the English county of Kent. It has been inhabited by members of the Hart Dyke family for twenty generations.-History:...
, Eynsford
Eynsford
Eynsford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located on the River Darent, south of Dartford in Kent.-The village:...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. He is the designer of the World Garden of Plants located on the property. The World Garden contains over 10,000 species of plants, many collected by Hart Dyke from their native environments.
Early life and education
Hart Dyke attended a state primary school in EynsfordEynsford
Eynsford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located on the River Darent, south of Dartford in Kent.-The village:...
and then transferred to St. Michael's School in Otford
Otford
Otford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent known for its classically British countryside. The village is located on the River Darent, flowing north down its valley from its source on the North Downs...
. He attended Stanbridge Earls
Stanbridge Earls
Stanbridge Earls School, near Romsey, Hampshire is an independent public school for boys and girls aged 10–19....
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
until age seventeen and then entered Sparsholt College Hampshire
Sparsholt College Hampshire
Sparsholt College Hampshire is a Further Education and Higher Education college located at Sparsholt near Winchester, Hampshire, in the south of England...
, near Winchester, where he studied tree surgery and forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
.
In an interview in 2006, Hart Dyke credits his grandmother (Gran) as having first interested him in plants at age three.
Tom Hart Dyke is first cousin of the British comedian Miranda Hart
Miranda Hart
Miranda Katharine Hart Dyke , known professionally as Miranda Hart, is an English actress, writer and stand-up comedienne. She writes and stars in the BBC sitcom Miranda...
.
Kidnapping in 2000
Hart Dyke follows a tradition of VictorianVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
and Edwardian British plant hunters, such as Francis Masson
Francis Masson
Francis Masson was a Scottish botanist and gardener, and Kew Gardens’ first plant hunter.Masson was born in Aberdeen. In the 1760s he went to work at Kew Gardens as an under-gardener. Masson was the first plant collector to be sent from Kew by the newly-appointed director Sir Joseph Banks...
, who risked life and limb to acquire rare species of plant. In 2000, Hart Dyke was kidnapped by suspected FARC guerillas in the Darien Gap
Darién Gap
The Darién Gap is a large swath of undeveloped swampland and forest separating Panama's Darién Province in Central America from Colombia in South America. It measures just over long and about wide. Roadbuilding through this area is expensive, and the environmental toll is steep. Political...
between Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
and Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
while hunting for rare orchids, a plant for which he has a particular passion. He and his travel companion, Paul Winder, were held captive for nine months and threatened with death. He kept himself going by creating a design for a garden containing plants collected on his trips, laid out in the shape of a world map according to their continent of origin. Tom wrote about his experiences in Colombia in the book, The Cloud Garden.
World Garden of Plants
On his return home, Hart Dyke put his design into practice within the walls of the family's Victorian herb garden. The story of the creation of The World Garden of Plants was the subject of a BBC2 series, "Save Lullingstone Castle" (KEO Films). This was followed by a second series, "Return To Lullingstone Castle". In May 2006, Hart Dyke managed to get an Australian Eucalyptus caesiaEucalyptus caesia
Eucalyptus caesia, commonly known as Caesia, Gungurru or Silver Princess, is a mallee of the Eucalyptus genus. It is endemic to the central Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, where it is found on a small number of granite outcrops. The name "silver" refers to the white powder that covers the...
plant (common name Silver Princess) to flower for the first time in the UK.
He was inspired by orchids at his first school, St. Michaels, Otford, Kent.
Hart Dyke featured in the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
Nova
NOVA (TV series)
Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries...
program in 2002, Orchid Hunter that documented his return to hunting rare orchids in dangerous terrain in another politically unstable area in Irian Jaya in the rainforests of Western New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
.