The E.H. Wilson Garden: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
by Amy Lister

ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED: 2000 Fall

For some older visitors to the George L. Luthy Memorial Botanical Garden in Peoria, Illinois, two marble and bronze dedication plaques referring to the "Ernest H. Wilson Plant Study Club" might serve as distant reminders of the esteemed Peoria Garden Club. For other visitors like myself, however, the plaques only stirred up questions. Who was E.H. Wilson, what was the E.H. Wilson Plant Study Club, and how was either one connected with the Luthy Memorial Garden located in Glen Oak Park, Peoria, Illinois?

After many hours of research, I'm happy to share the answers I found, albeit with difficulty. The historical "record" consisted mostly of small shards of information, often full of misspellings and gaps. Now that the historical puzzle has been pieced together, it is helping us germinate a plan for the garden's future.

Ernest H. ÔChinese' Wilson (1876 - 1930) was an English botanist and plant explorer of great importance. Studying and working in England, he took a job as a collector with Veitch Nursery of Chelsea. Harry Veitch was specifically interested in locating seeds from a dove-tree [Davidia involucrata] and sent Wilson to China to find them. In his lifetime, Dr. Wilson made four trips to China; the first two on behalf of Veitch and the second two for The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.

Although plant exploration in exotic lands is often romanticized, it was no vacation. Ironically, ÔChinese' Wilson never learned the language. He was always accompanied by an interpreter, and a large (40+) collecting crew, and sometimes by his wife and daughters. Traveling the mountainous region on foot was treacherous and he had a permanent limp from an injury suffered on a trip to collect bulbs of the regal lily (Lilium regale). The lily is Wilson's most recognized achievement in plant exploration, but he is credited with over 1,000 species. These include over 60 rhododendron species, the paperbark maple [Acer griseum] and the kiwi fruit [Actinidia deliciosa]. While Wilson managed to leave China alive (unlike many explorers of his day), he and his wife were unfortunately killed in an auto accident in 1930, here on American soil, just outside of Boston.

Glen Oak Park was the centerpiece of lands purchased by the newly created Peoria (IL) Pleasure Driveway and Park District in 1894. The park was designed in 1895 by Oscar F. DuBuis, a landscape engineer, who formerly worked at the West Parks District of Chicago with William LeBaron Jenney and later, Jens Jensen.

The main layout of the lush green park is nearly the same today as DuBuis designed it over 100 years ago. Now totaling 120 acres, the park provides many amenities including the Luthy Memorial Botanical Garden, Glen Oak Zoo, an amphitheater, lagoon, playgrounds, tennis courts, ball fields, picnic grounds, and hiking trails.

[TWG Editor: According to author and professor Malcolm D. Cairns, writing in The Landscape Architecture Heritage of Illinois [Ball State University, 1993], DuBuis' original design included "carriage drives and rustic walks, sports fields, a refectory and a bandstand. From 1897 to 1904, a playhouse, lake, and settler's cabin were constructed, and initial steps were taken in the creation of zoological grounds."]

It was within Glen Oak Park that a small group from the Peoria Garden Club began their civic project, a sunken garden, to be later dedicated in honor of E.H. Wilson. The Dr. E.H. Wilson Plant Study Club was founded in 1931. The original Wilson Garden was located at the lower park entrance at Perry Street, an area which is now used for tennis courts. (See map above). The garden consisted of trees, shrubs and long, lush perennial borders featuring over 300 regal lilies. Also featured were an electric fountain and a long, domed pergola.

As a remembrance of Dr. Wilson, The Arnold Arboretum sent from Massachusetts a dove-tree [Davidia involucrata] to be planted in the new garden. The garden was dedicated June 26, 1934 and was maintained by the Plant Study Club at the Perry Street location for 20 years.

The dove-tree, or handkerchief tree, is not widely cultivated. It is a tall (60') deciduous, pyramidal tree, with large broad leaves, 2-6" long. Its most ornamental feature are the small flowers which are subtended by two unequal creamy-white bracts, one being 7" long by 4" wide, the other being 4" long by 2" wide. They are really quite showy and dictate the name, "dove-tree." This tree is hardy to hardiness zone 6. Because Peoria is in zone 5, it is not known how long the original tree struggled to survive the cold winters.

The Wilson Garden was prone to flood damage because it was sunken, so after the new Glen Oak Conservatory was built in 1951, the club began to move the garden to its current location north of the Conservatory. In those days the park grounds consisted of roses, oak trees and little else. The 1953 Wilson Garden was much larger than today's. It was later "subdivided" into smaller gardens including the Yellow and Grey Garden, the Purple Garden, the Cottage Garden, and the Herb Garden.

There are still mementos of club members and all their labors present today in the form of plants such as the hardy rubber tree [Eucommia ulmoides] given in honor of Ethel Huangs and a Carolina silverbell [Halesia carolina] remembering Edna Brewer. Both women once served as Club presidents. At its peak, there were over 50 ladies in the Dr. E.H. Wilson Garden Study Club. They took care of the garden, organized the spring Plant Sale, and showed appreciation for the garden staff by hosting an annual summer picnic. The Dr. E.H. Wilson Plant Study Club, whose motto was "Study, Plant, and Grow", lasted for 64 years but disbanded in October 1995 due to lack of membership.

While the E.H. Wilson Study Club now exists only as a memory and meeting minutes, the garden named after the famous plant explorer is still alive and growing. Over the next few years the staff of the Luthy Botanical Garden is planning to incorporate the original plants still living in the garden into a new garden design. We would also like to include some of the hardier species E.H. Wilson discovered and make the garden a showpiece in honor of 64 years of the E.H. Wilson Study Club's work and friendships.

There are many opportunities for your assistance on this project. We are eager to find memorabilia or stories from the E.H. Wilson Study Club. In addition, we would like to plant a new dove-tree hardy to zone 5 and are looking for a donor. We have found a nursery which grows a hardy cultivar, Davidia involucrata var. vilmoriana, which costs $700. Although expensive, the tree is a descendant of the original seeds brought from China by Dr. Wilson.

If you have any questions, comments, or stories to share about Dr. E.H. Wilson, please contact us. The gardens are open from dawn to dusk, and admission to them is free.

Amy Lister is Collections Specialist at the George L. Luthy Botanical Garden, 2218 N. Prospect, Peoria, IL 61603. She can be reached at (309) 686-3362 or e-mailed via Luthy1951@aol.com. Congratulations to her on having her first child, but finishing the editing on this article beforehand.

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