Bob, as he was known to all, was born in Selkirk in 1936 and commenced his gardening career at the East of Scotland College of Agriculture in 1955. In 1957, he gained the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society medal for best student in his final year. His National Service was with the Royal Air Force and in 1959 he joined The Royal Botanic Garden as a student and latterly as a member of staff.

In 1962 he moved, as Assistant Curator to J.L Mowat, to St Andrews University Botanic Garden and Grounds. He became Curator in 1967 with a remit to develop a new Botanic Garden on a greenfield site and manage the transfer of plants from the original garden. On this new site he was instrumental in creating the rock, peat and water gardens, glasshouses and alpine house, systematic beds and planting an interesting selection of trees and shrubs. During his tenure at St Andrews, he developed the educational offer for children, the St Andrew Junior Hortus from 1975 and forming the Friends of the Botanic Garden in 1981. The garden faced significant financial pressures in the 1980’s and was threatened with closure with Bob taking early retirement in 1987 and becoming Honorary Curator. When the St Andrews Botanic Garden Trust took over management of the garden he became Emeritus Curator.

In 1981 he was co leader with Professor Feng Goumei, Kunming Institute of Botany, of the Sino British Expedition to the Cangshan Mountains [SBEC] in Yunnan southwest China. This was one of first visits to China by European botanists since 1947 and participants included Roy Lancaster, Peter Cox, Sir Peter Hutchison and Dr David Chamberlain.

For 7 years he was Editor of the Scottish Rock Garden Club [SRGC] Journal and was convener of the Fife group of the SRGC for 9 years. More recently he was an Honorary Vice President of the Scottish Rhododendron Society reflecting his lifelong interest and knowledge of Rhododendrons and for many years he was a respected judge at Gardening Scotland.

After leaving St Andrews Bob with his wife, Felicity, became Property Managers at the National Trust for Scotland’s Branklyn Garden in Perth between 1989 and 1997. From 1985 they led botanical tours around the world.  In their own garden in Elie, in Fife they cultivated the Plant Heritage National collection of Paeonia species.

He was a Fellow of the Linnean Society and the Chartered Institute of Horticulture. In 1983 he was awarded the Scottish Horticultural Medal by the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society and was made a M.B.E. in 2017 recognising his significant contributions to Scottish Horticulture.

Author: David Knott