Phaidon Editors

Dr James Compton is a botanist and plant collector with a special interest in the history and classification of plants. He was a student at Kew, Head Gardener at Chelsea Physic Garden and he wrote his PhD at the University of Reading on the genus Actaea. He is the author, with Chris Lane, of Wisteria: The Complete Guide - The RHS Horticultural Monograph on all species and cultivars of wisteria.

Martyn Rix is a botanist and plant collector who has served as a botanist to The Royal Horticultural Society. He studied botany at Trinity College, Dublin, and did a PhD on Greek and Turkish Fritillaria at Cambridge. He is the editor of Curtis's Botanical Magazine and has authored and edited numerous botanical guides and books.