My husband, David Joyce, who has died aged 81, was the distinguished author of several successful books on gardens and plants. Among the titles he wrote or edited were The English Garden Tradition (1987), Hanging Baskets, Window Boxes and Containers (1992), Pruning and Training Plants (1992), The Plant Guide: Successful Plants for Every Garden (1995), The Ultimate Container Garden (1996), The Garden Plant Selector (1998), Topiary (1999) and Foliage (2001). David had a highly original mind and was a meticulous writer with a keen eye for detail and his work was informed by a wide knowledge of art and different cultures, although he claimed that his favourite reading consisted of seed and wine catalogues.
Born in Greymouth, in the South Island of New Zealand, one of three children of Rua (nee Jennings) and Oliver Joyce, David was brought up in Wellington. The family’s forebears had been among the earliest emigrants to New Zealand, involved in farming, goldmining and newspapers. Oliver was an executive in a large fishing export business. David attended Wellington College school.
From early on his interests lay in music, art and the natural world. He graduated from the University of Victoria with a BA and a master’s degree in English, and at 25 sold a valuable violin in order to embark on a long romantic journey to Europe by sea and land, travelling through Yugoslavia, Turkey, Greece and Italy, and arriving in Paris in 1966; he was teaching at a major lycee during the événements of 1968.
In 1969 he moved to London and found work as a then inexperienced editor at Thames and Hudson, the publishers of art books, and was deeply influenced by the exceptionally talented people from wartime and refugee backgrounds who worked there, some of whom became lifelong friends. In 1972 he took the post of editor of the Hong Kong University Press, returning to London in 1974 to freelance as a writer and editor.
David had always been interested in plants and birds, encouraged by his parents who were both keen gardeners, and he pursued extension courses in the taxonomy and identification of flowering plants and also the behaviour of birds at London University. This coincided with his job as managing editor of gardening partworks and later as editor of a gardening list at Marshall Cavendish Books in the 1970s; he had an excellent memory and was often out “in the field” studying plants and making notes.
Fifteen years ago David took up printmaking and experimented enthusiastically with several methods under the tutelage of Frank Connelly. He created many abstract works that revealed his adventurous imagination and artistic flair.
He had the great gift for making and keeping friends from all walks of life. He enjoyed bringing people together with good food and wine and frequently startled them with his critical, witty but sympathetic conversation.
David and I met while both working at Thames and Hudson in 1970 and we married in 2005. I survive him, as do his brother, Grahame, and sister, Betty.
