Martyn Rix is a botanist, plant collector, author and gardener.
He studied botany at Trinity College Dublin, and at Cambridge where he completed a doctorate on Turkish fritillaries.
He subsequently worked at the University of Zurich, where he co-authored a major book on Water Plants of the World, and studied the effects of waterweeds in India.
Martyn was then appointed Botanist to The Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley, and whilst there taught botany to students, many of whom are now leading horticulturists around the world.
He has contributed to a number of scientific publications, including The European Garden Flora, Flora Europaea, The Flora of Turkey and Curtis's Botanical Magazine and has published many scientific papers as well as a number of books on the subject of Botanical Art, including The Art of the Plant World, Art in Nature and (with Alison Rix) The Redoute Album.
He also collaborated on The Quest for the Rose (BBC) and the Pan Garden Plants Series of books with Roger Phillips, and is a regular contributor of gardening articles to Country Life, Gardens Illustrated and The English Garden magazine. In 1999 he was awarded the Gold Veitch Memorial Medal by The Royal Horticultural Society.
Martyn has travelled all over the world in search of wild plants for gardens, and introduced many new ones into cultivation in Europe and North America. He has an extensive collection of photographs of exciting plants in their natural habitats.

Martyn Rix is the current editor of Curtis's Botanical Magazine

Crocus balansae

The Passions of a Victorian Enthusiast: George Maw
by Martyn & Alison Rix

Cornucopia 39
£10 (US$15)
 

In Turkey the tireless George Maw was able to indulge in both his loves. He found inspiration for the decorative tiles made by his family pottery. And he discovered the plants that inspired his magnificent book on crocuses.

Trigintipetala or 'Kazanlik'

La Vie en Rose
Cornucopia 23
£10 (US$15)

The intoxicating scent of attar of roses has worked its magic on men and women for centuries. Martyn Rix traces the history of the damask rose from its roots in Neolithic times and travels to Isparta to see how these precious petals yeild up a liquid worth its weight in gold

Rosa horrida

Wild about Ida
Cornucopia 26
£8 (US$12)

Mount Ida is a paradise for wild flowers. Martyn Rix prospected the area from cool, damp north to hot, dry south. There he found and photographed dwarf flax, giant hogweed - and plants that grow nowhere else in the world.

Styrax officinalis

Wild Beauties of the Deep South
Cornucopia 29
£10 (US$15)

In the valleys of the Taurus Mountains and on the unspoilt rocky headlands of the coast, Martyn Rix finds wild gladioli, tassel hyacinths, Persian fritillaries - and an ancient survivor of the Ice Age

Lathyrus elongatus

Along the rocky road
Cornucopia 31
£20 (US$30)

When spring arrives in the high passes of the Tauris Mountains, a dazzling display of flowers comes out to meet it.