Thomas Fairchild

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Thomas Fairchild

Thomas Fairchild (* 1667 ; † 1729 ) was an English botanist and gardener . Its official botanical author abbreviation is “ Fairchild. ".

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Fairchild was the first botanist known to have experimented with crossbreeding. Around 1717 he brought pollen from the barnacle ( Dianthus barbatus ) onto the pistil of a carnation ( Dianthus caryophyllus ) and thus created a hybrid that was then used in horticulture .

In addition, he was one of the first botanists to study urban ecology . In his book The City Gardener (1722) there is an account of garden art in the city. The work is important, among other things, because it was Fairchild's first reference to the recreational function of gardens, recognizing even then that air pollution in cities also has a negative impact on people's living environment because many plants are impaired by the effects of smoke or be damaged. For example, he reports that the gardens by the Thames were less polluted than those in other parts of the city.

From his observations he derived a list of plant species which can be used in the gardens of London and which also correspond to these anthropogenically changed site conditions. He also pointed out that certain heat-loving plants grow better and above all produce fruit in protected locations within the city than in free, open-topped locations and gives specific advice on this in his book.

The following list from The City Gardener shows some plants he recommends for cultivation (indeterminate information is marked with cf. ):

What is remarkable about this list is that a number of plants that are not native to Europe are listed, which were probably imported for horticultural purposes, as well as the fact that, for example, a number of fruit trees are mentioned, so Fairchild also assigned a useful function to the garden.

Fairchild led a gardeners' association which published the Catalogus Plantarum in 1730 : Catalogus Plantarum, Tum Exoticarum tum Domesticarum, quae in Hortis haud procul a Londino Sitis in Vendionen propagantur. A Catalog Of Trees, Shrubs, Plants, and Flowers, Both Exotic and Domestic, Which are propagated for Sale, In the Gardens near London ... by a Society of Gardeners. London: Printed for the Society of Gardeners. This work is one of the first books on plants, which is accompanied by colored panels with depictions of plants, and in which numerous garden plants of American origin are shown. Instructions for cultivation and care are also given for these. The work was published by John Miller (1715–1780), a botanist who was born in Nuremberg as Johann Sebastian Müller and who worked in London.

swell

  • Michael Leapman: The ingenious Mr Fairchild the forgotten father of the flower garden . London 2000, Headline Book Publishing

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personal data
SURNAME Fairchild, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English botanist
DATE OF BIRTH 1667
DATE OF DEATH 1729