Harry Hay

Lee Poulsen wpoulsen@pacbell.net
Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:46:48 PDT
Thanks for passing this on, Dell. I was one of the fortunate ones that got to meet him in person and spend an afternoon with him (thanks to Paul Chapman). How he managed to get one of the best and most diverse private collections of bulbs (as well as other plants) in the world, I will never know. I asked him about it, and he said he merely kept contacting everyone everywhere asking to trade or buy for just about any bulb and built up an amazing set of contacts. Of course, he had been doing this for a long time. And to think he really did used to be a pig farmer (until the M25 Motorway that encircles London was built bisecting his farm)! And at least for me, he (and his wife) were a joy to visit. Such a nice man. He will be missed.

Dell, did the article say anything about his vast collection? Will his wife continue to care for it, or maybe pass the contents on to a worthy (or several worthy) entities?

--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a


On Mar 28, 2011, at 1:28 PM, Dell Sherk wrote:

> Dear All,
> 
> 
> 
> I read in the Rock Garden Quarterly of the passing of Harry Hay of the
> United Kingdom. Harry was never a member of PBS, but he was one of the grand
> old men of bulb growing. Some of you had the opportunity to meet him and
> others have unknowingly grown plants from the  descendents of his seeds. I
> have grown and shared Pamianthe peruviana that came from Harry. He was an
> extraordinary grower of some of the most unusual bulbs in the world. 
> 


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