Mary Spiller
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Comment: The basic notability criteria for people is significant coverage in multiple independent, reliable, secondary sources. Lawrence writes that she could have written about Spiller. If she had, you would have at least one good source. Unfortunately she wrote mostly about Havergal and little about Spiller. The Telegraph article mentions Spiller only in passing, as does the Howcroft book. The BBC apples piece doesn't mention Spiller at all. The other BBC page only says Mary was the first woman to present Gardener's World. Writings by Spiller and her employer are not independent of her, so they do not count towards notability. The height of Spiller's career was in the 1970's and 80's. Rooting around in a library might bear fruit. There may be print (or tape) sources from that period that would prove notability. If her books were truly indispensable, multiple in-depth reviews of them could prove notability as an author. Based on the current sources, however, the subject does not appear to be a suitable topic for an encyclopaedia article. Worldbruce (talk) 06:07, 12 April 2015 (UTC)
Mary Rose Spiller (born 13 April 1923) is a horticulturist and teacher, who has devoted most of her life to what is now known as Waterperry Gardens.[1] near Thame in Oxfordshire. In her 90th year (2013) she finally "retired" from her influential role at Waterperry. She had studied and then worked at the Waterperry Horticultural School, starting during the Second World War, under the guidance of Beatrix Havergal[2] (who is numbered among in "the First [14] Ladies of Gardening" by Heidi Howcroft in her 2015 book[3], and one of the 5 most influential fruit growers of the last 100 years[4]). When "Miss H" retired, it was Mary Spiller who continued that proud tradition of women's horticultural excellence for the next 40 years, and, despite retiring in 2013 and being in her 90's, Miss Spiller's influence at Waterperry continues through her on-going work with the Friends of Waterperry Gardens.
Mary had studied, gardened, planned, managed and taught at Waterperry over nearly all of the 70 years since the 1939-45 war, her contribution having been recognised in many places, including the 2014 BBC TV series "Glorious Gardens from Above"[5]. Alongside her work at Waterperry, Spiller is also well known for her much sought-after lectures to the gardening cognoscenti around Oxfordshire since the 1960's, as well as writing two indispensable gardening books for the common man ("Growing Fruit"[6], and "Weeds, Search and Destroy"[7]) and sharing her gardening wisdom in the media over many years (including a short spell as the first woman presenter on BBC TV's "Gardeners World" – which turned out not to be her cup of tea!).
Spiller is the younger daughter of an old Oxford family: Reginald Spiller OBE, Reader in Crystallography at Oxford University (until his death in 1953) and his wife Olive, daughter of the one-time landlord of the Old Tom pub in Oxford City. She was born and grew up in the house in Cowley, Oxford, where she still lives, having seen the development of the Morris, Leyland and BMC works from neighbour Bill Morris's bike shop in the village, to the current BMW Mini assembly line. Spiller has had a lifelong association with Oxford, Oxfordshire, and Oxford University gardening circles, her lectures on a wide variety of horticultural subjects having been popular amongst “serious” gardeners in Oxfordshire for nearly 60 years. Her influence on the development of Waterperry Gardens has increased over the same period, where she was horticultural manager for 15 years until 1990, and has continued as horticultural consultant to the present day.[8]
One of Spiller's horticultural passions is alpines, but her gardening knowledge extends immeasurably, and she is known as one of the most rounded horticulturists of the current era[9] – she was awarded the RHA Associateship of Honour in July 2008 [10] [11]
References
- ^ "Waterperry Gardens". Gardenvisit.
- ^ Lawrence, Linora (24 July 2007). "Miss Havergal's horticultural vision for girls". The Oxford Times.
- ^ Howcroft, Heidi (2015). First ladies of gardening : pioneers, designers and dreamers. London: Frances Lincoln Limited. ISBN 978-0711236431.
- ^ Christine Walkden (12 November 2014). Glorious Gardens from Above, Oxfordshire, How to pick apples (Television production). BBC One. Event occurs at 1:13 minutes in.
- ^ BBC One - Glorious Gardens from Above, Oxfordshire
- ^ Spiller, Mary (1980). Growing fruit. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 0-713913002.
- ^ Spiller, Mary (1985). Weeds : search and destroy : the easy way to identify, control and eliminate troublesome weeds. London: Macdonald. ISBN 0-356106349.
- ^ "Mary Spiller celebrates 50 years working at Waterperry". Waterperry Gardens. 11 April 2013.
- ^ "Pamela Schwerdt". Telegraph. 25 September 2009.
- ^ "Tough Survivor". Oxford Times.
- ^ "Mary Spiller wins prestigious RHS award". Waterperry Gardens.