Bulletin - Fall 1979 - North American Rock Garden Society

DWIGHT RIPLEY—PLANTSMANH. LINCOLN FOSTERFalls Village, ConnecticutAs an inadequate in memoriam I wouldlike to tell you a little about DwightRipley, a rare plantsman. He, and hislife-long friend, Rupert Barneby, wereawarded the American Rock GardenSociety's Marcel LePiniec Award in1974, but unhappily Dwight Ripley diedon December 17, 1973 before the awardcould be presented.Dwight was born in London,England, October 28, 1908, to anAmerican father and an Irish mother.His paternal forebears and relatives hadfor many years lived in Litchfield, Connecticut,as does still his cousin, S.Dillon Ripley, the Secretary of theSmithsonian. Dwight was christenedHarry Dwight Dillon Ripley, a cumbersomename he soon shortened toDwight, except occasionally, for partialconcealment, when he became in thetelephone book or ARGS membershiplist, H. D. D. Ripley.One knows little about his early yearsin England except from a few revealingreferences in his later writings aboutplants. For instance, I find this in mylittle red book — something I willrefer to on and off. This volume isthe bound copy of articles that Dwightwrote for the Alpine Garden Societyduring the 1930's and '40's — atreasured gift to Timmy and me fromRupert.He wrote in an account of a tripthrough Oregon in 1945:To the author there has always been somethingspecial about the Umbelliferae, or Parsleys,and a patch devoted to their culture wasbegun at the tender age of nine. Coriander,chervil, sweet cicely and fennel were at thattime accorded the lavish care I would probablybestow today on Kelseya uniflora, and aweek-end guest of my mother's was known tohave packed his bags precipitately after tastingone of my terrifying salads. Yet I'm wellaware that Ogden Nash spoke for the horticulturalworld when he wrote his immortaltwo-line poem:"ParsleyIs gharsley."As far as the rock gardener is concerned, theUmbelliferae (except for Seseli caespitosumand the South American Azorellas) are gharsleyindeed. ...This reminiscence may suggest thathis early attention was solely to edibleherbs. Far from it. From Rupert Ilearn that Dwight had fallen in lovewith plants as a small boy and bythe age of sixteen had committed tomemory the Latin names of all theBritish wildflowers listed in Benthamand Hooker's Manual.Dwight's father died when he wassix and his mother when he was twelve.At about that age he was sent by hisguardian, the family solicitor, to Harrowbut who knows what was expectedof him. It is likely that his devotionto the playing fields of that preparatoryschool was not the sort to prepare himfor any future Battle of Waterloo. Whilethere, enduring what must have beenin the 1920's a typical English boardingschool existence, he did meet a fellowstudentof congenial temperament,Rupert Barneby, who has since indicatedhis initial amazement atDwight's prodigeous knowledge ofplants with their Latin names. Thisfriendship endured a separation whileDwight went off to Oxford to pursuecourses in languages and Rupert offto Cambridge to steep himself in178