George Fraser

George Fraser (born 25 October 1854 in Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland, and died in 1944 in Ucluelet, British Columbia, Canada) was one of the world's leading hybridizers, especially of rhododendrons. Early life Fraser began his gardening career at the age of seventeen at Christies Nursery in Fochabers, Moray. He was then apprenticed at Gordon Castle, Fochabers. On completion of his apprenticeship, he spent the next four years studying horticulture in Edinburgh funding this by working on a local estate. From there he worked in Mollance in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, then at Hartfield House in Renfrewshire. While still in his twenties Fraser took on the post of head gardener at Craigflower, Fife. His last position in Scotland was as head gardener at the large country estate of Auchmore, Killin, Perthshire. Life in Canada In 1883, Fraser along with his sister emigrated to Canada and worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway for a time. He started a commercial greenhouse in Winnipeg but the cold winters made him move to the more temperate regions further west and settled in Victoria, British Columbia in 1885 where he established a successful fruit and vegetable garden. Then, in 1889, the city of Victoria commissioned John Blair, a landscape architect, and also a Scot, to design and produce Beacon Hill Park. Blair, knowing Fraser's reputation as a plantsman immediately hired him to be the foreman for the entire project.