Elvin McDonald was a precocious horticulturist. In order to learn more about growing gloxinias, he started what is now the Gesneriad Society and its journal “Gesneriads” when he was only 14, while still working on his family’s farm in Oklahoma. After studying opera performance at Mannes School of Music in New York City, he embarked on a long career in horticulture as a writer and a photographer. He has authored or contributed to upwards of 100 books.
In a 1978 column of Plant Talk published in the Chicago Tribune, McDonald tells of an adventure with his friend William Mulligan, visiting orchid greenhouses. Mulligan was also an accomplished author of horticulture books, best known for his writing on lattices and trellises, and on prominent North American gardens. In Mulligan’s 1995 obituary in the New York Times, after dying from complications of AIDS at age 52, he is described as being survived “by his companion and frequent writing collaborator, Elvin McDonald.”
Most notable of these collaborations is “The Adventurous Gardener’s Sourcebook of Rare and Unusual Plants,” written by Mulligan with photographs by McDonald and published in 1992. One of the treasures of my personal library is a copy of this book inscribed by both men.
As the title promises, this book is a source for both viewing and purchasing remarkable plants. Unfortunately, 30 years later, these resources are often out of date, but this is still a book I recommend.
Why? For the many great ideas of new plants to try! While some have become commonplace in subsequent years, many have not and are worth seeking out. Mulligan addresses any concerns you might have about this habit. “By only pursuing esoteric species is the adventurous gardener a snob? Not at all. Just curious, opinionated, and appreciative of details.”
McDonald was profiled in the March/April 2022 issue of “The American Gardener” by Kelly D. Norris. Now 85, he has continued an active career in horticulture, including work that was instrumental in the development of the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden in Iowa, where he lives with his husband, John Zickefoose.
Excerpted from Brian Thompson’s article in the Fall 2022 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin