Jack
Hobbs
 Curator
Manager of the Auckland Botanic Gardens (ABG) in Manurewa, Auckland.
Jack
has been Curator Manager of the ABG since 1997, after previously
being Curator from 1988.
He has long
been a member of the Institute, joining as a student in 1977. In
1990 he was awarded the Plant Raisers Award, in 1991 became a Fellow
of the RNZIH, in 1996 became an Associate of Honour of the RNZIH, and from 2003 to 2011 was the President of the RNZIH.
Jack has been
a presenter of television gardening programmes from 1991 until 2003,
including 8 years as a presenter on Maggie's Garden Show. For almost
20 years he ran an extensive plant breeding programme at ARBG which
has produced many popular native plant hybrids including the popular
'Wiri' series of Hebe and Leptospermum which are now
grown commercially in many parts of the world.
Jack has been
involved as writer and/or photographer for magazines and several
gardening books. Since 1989 he has been a regular contributor of
articles and photography to the New Zealand Gardener. He
co-authored Bulbs for New Zealand Gardeners and Collectors
(Jack Hobbs and Terry Hatch, Godwit Publishing, 1994; published
in USA as The Best Bulbs for Temperate Climates, Timber Press,
1994.)
Other
horticultural books he has contributed to include Ferns
for New Zealand Gardens (Sandra Van der Mast and Jack Hobbs,
Godwit Publishing, 1998), and he completed the manuscript for A
New Zealand Handbook of Bulbs and Perennials (H. Redgrove, Godwit
Publishing, 1991).
Jack has broad horticultural expertise from the practical to the managerial
levels and a high public profile.
Qualifications
Industry
& Professional Associations
- Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture (AHRIH)
- Botanic Gardens Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ)
Current
Group & Society Memberships
- Friends of Auckland Botanic Garden
- International Dendrology Society
- International Plant Propagators Society IPPS
- Botanical Society
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