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==External links==
==External links==
*[http://home.insightbb.com/~wilsonjh/awards.html Lists all the Dykes Medal Winners]


{{DEFAULTSORT:William Dykes }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:William Dykes }}

Revision as of 17:54, 14 October 2014

William Rickatson Dykes
Born4 November 1877
Bayswater, London
Died1 December 1925
Woking, Surrey
NationalityBritish
Alma materWadham College, Oxford
Known forTaxonomy
Botany
AwardsVeitch Memorial Medal (1924), Victoria Medal of Honor (1925)
Scientific career
FieldsBotany
Academic advisorsSir Michael Foster
Author abbrev. (botany)Dykes

William Dykes was a former school teacher and then became an amateur botanist, after meeting Sir Michael Foster. He began growing and breeding Irises as a hobby, he eventually became a known expert in the field and wrote several books that influenced many others. He was also interested in Tulips, Amaryllis and other plants as well.

Biography

William Rickatson Dykes, was born on 4 November 1877 at Bayswater in London.[1]The second son of Alfred Dykes.[2]

He went to City of London School, and then to Wadham College, Oxford.[2] In 1900, he obtained a M.A. in classics.[1] Later he went to University of Paris he was L.esL.

While studying at Oxford, he met Sir Michael Foster,[2] who installed a passion for irises.

Between 1903 and 1919, he was a Master at Charterhouse School in Godalming.[3]

He lived in Godalming, Surrey where he created a large garden to grow all his irises.[3]

When Michael Foster died in 1907. Mrs Ellen Willmott loaned Mr Dykes, a large collection of notes she inheritted from Michael Foster. [4] page 29 Mr Foster was working on a study of all irises before he died. Dykes, then took over this study to complete it for him.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

His book has 48 full-color plates made from the watercolors by F.H. Round (drawn from plants in Dyke's garden).[5][3] Frank was an Assistant Drawing Master at Charterhouse.[6]

(re-word) Rounds said that during iris season, Dykes would show up "in his dressing gown" at 5 AM with an iris in hand, of which the painting was supposed to me made immediately. He said, "The drawings for Dykes were easy and comfortable to do".[5]

notes about classification of all irises..... he created the first classification of irises according to Linnaeus's botanical system.

In November 1919, he became a fellow of the Linnean Society of London.[7]

In 1920, Mr. Dykes was appointed to the Secretaryship of the Royal Horticultural Society,[8] and it was necessary for him to leave Godalming and live nearer London.[1]

He made arrangements for nearly all of his collection of iriese to be moved to Percy Murrell's Nursery at Orpington In Kent. He retained only a few rhizomes each of some seedlings, planting them on a small plot of ground at the John Innes Research Station at Merton, Surrey.

Between 1921 and 1925, he served as Secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society. He devoted his remarkable abilities whole-heartedly to the maintenance of the Society as a moving force in horticulture.[2]

In the Dykes Memorial issue of the Annual of the Iris Society, June 1926, Marion Cran wrote, "He was to be seen at all the shows, the small fortnightly shows at Vincent Square and the great summer and autumn shows at Chelsea and Holland Park. His broad, burly frame moved In a leisurely way among the exhibits. He might be smiling just broadly like a merry schoolboy, or cross as Good Friday's bun just as the moment might take him; for he was a man of strong personality who made no attempt to disguise his emotions.

His travels took him especially to the South of France, in Hyères in Var (department), where he discovered 'Iris spuria var. maritima'. [9] Published in Gen. Iris: 59 (1913). ref http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=340957 Iris spuria subsp. maritima (Dykes) P.Fourn. ref http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-329117

He also raised several hybrid Iris seedlings. 'Amber' (pale yellow)1924, 'Moonlight' (yellowish-white) and 'Wedgewood' (medium blue) are the best known.[3]

In 1922 with the company with Mr. Wallace, Mr. Bonnewitz, Mr. Wassenberg, and Mr. Dykes he visited the Cayeux Nursery in France. This specialised Iris nursery also exhibits irises at the Chelsea flower show.[2]

He carried on correspondence with many botanists and gardeners, including the American 'Grace Sturtevant'.[10]

In 1924, he married Katherine (nee Kaye),[1] who also made a name for herself as an iris hybridizer and painter. They had their own garden at Sutton Green near Guildford, where he planted over 30,000 tulip bulbs.[2]

In 1924, he was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for his monograph "The Genus Iris".[1]

In 1925, he translated from the French to English, Professor Louis Lorette's book on pruning fruit trees.[11][12]

Unfortunately, in November 1925, only a week after receiving the Victoria Medal of Honour from the RHS, Dykes was killed after being in a motoring accident.[13]

After his death, a (yellow, the first true yellow) 'W. R. Dykes' was named by his wife, a year later. It was sold by Orpington Nurseries and became very famous and was used by other iris breeders.[3]

On 16 June 1926, a meeting of the British Iris Society was held, it was resolved to award a medal to the hybridizer of the outstanding iris variety of each year in memory of Mr, Dykes, thus the Dykes Medal has become the highly coveted, highly prized award dreamed of by all hybridizers. It is the highest award in Irisdom, and its name, Dykes Medal, keeps his name alive and warm in all our hearts. (Add more)[2]

Mrs Katherine Dykes carried on her husbands plant breeding work and produced the Iris 'Gudrun' (a white). Which won the Dykes Medal in 1931.[4] Until she died in Raynes Park on 25 May 1933.[1]

In 1930, also published after his death, 'Notes on Tulip Species' by Dykes, William Rickatson, and Elsie Katherine Dykes, publisher H. Jenkins.[14] Which included fifty-four color plates of paintings by Elsie Katherine Dykes.[15]

In 1930, G. Dillistone edited a book called 'Dykes on Irises'. This is a reprint of the contributions of the Dykes to various journals and periodicals during the last 20 years of his life.[16]

In 1932, Otto Stapf from Kew Gardens found a hybrid between Iris chrysographes and Iris delavayi in Dykes's Garden. He named it 'Iris dykesii'. [17] But this has now been re-classed as a synonym of Iris chrysographes (Dykes),[18] which he had originally published in 'Garderners Chronciles' 1911.[19]

Also 'Tulipa dykesiana' was named by Alexei Vvedenski in 'Flora of USSR' in 1935.[1] But this has now been re-classed as a synonym of Tulipa kolpakowskiana (Regel).[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Ray DesmondDictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists, p. 224, at Google Books
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "The Biography of W.R. Dykes (From the British Iris Society Annual, June 1926)". historiciris.org. June 1926. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e Cassidy, G.E.; Linnegar, S. (1982). Growing Irises. Bromley: Christopher Helm. p. 24-27. ISBN 0-88192-089-4.
  4. ^ a b Austin, Claire (2005). Irises A Garden Encyclopedia. Timber Press. p. 29. ISBN 0-88192-730-9.
  5. ^ a b Tryon, Patricia (March 22, 2012). "Frank Harold Round: Iris spuria". picturingplants.com. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  6. ^ "Plates from W.R. Dykes' Genus Iris". aleph0.clarku.edu. 2003. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  7. ^ "Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, November 1919 to June 1920". archive.org. 1920. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  8. ^ Duce, G.C. (1926). "The Botanical Society and Exchange Club, Report for 1926". p. 58. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |format= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  9. ^ "WILLIAM RICKATSON DYKES (1877-1925)". iris-en-provence.fr. 18 June 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  10. ^ "The Irises of Grace Sturtevant". theamericanirissociety.blogspot.co.uk. 21 May 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  11. ^ "A History of British Gardening, Miles Hadfield (1903–1982)". jimtheobscure.com. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2014. {{cite web}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 47 (help)
  12. ^ Louis Lorette The Lorette system of pruning at Google Books
  13. ^ "Tulipa". Cambridge Botanic Garden. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  14. ^ "Vibrant Treasures: Botanical Illustrations from the 16th to 20th Centuries: Works in the Exhibit". Michigan State Univeristy. March 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  15. ^ "Vibrant Treasures: Botanical Illustrations from the 16th to 20th Centuries: Women Illustrators". libguides.lib.msu.edu. March 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  16. ^ "Dykes on Irises". www.abebooks.co.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference ClareAustin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ "Iris chrysographes Dykes". theplantlist.org. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  19. ^ "Iridaceae Iris chrysographes Dykes". ipni.org. 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  20. ^ "Tulipa dykesiana Vved". theplantlist.org. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2014.


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