Dr Peter Valder OAM

10.06.1928 - 28.02.2023

No one has made more of an impression on the Australian and global horticultural scene in the 20th and 21st centuries than Dr Peter Valder.

Dr Peter Valder trained in agriculture and plant pathology at Sydney and Cambridge Universities in the 1950s, and like many from the country started working for the NSW Department of Agriculture. From 1962, he taught plant pathology and later botany at Sydney University. Many remarked after Peter's recent passing, that his lectures were “always packed to the hilt” because of his humorous delivery, especially when compared to what else was “on offer”.



Peter’s sharp wit, complete botanical knowledge and carefully crafted double entendres endeared him to so many, and set him up for a career later in media. Initially, broadcasting on TV with Mike Walsh, then Irish comedian Dave Allen and for many years on Burke’s Backyard.



His academic side brought fame and international respect through his scholarly works on Asian plants: ‘Wisterias: A Comprehensive Guide’ (1995); ‘The Garden Plants of China’ (1999); ‘Gardens in China’ (2002). All three are in our family library and admittedly, looking for worse for wear, as they were repeatedly referenced when I was traversing the same stamping ground in Asia.



I first met Peter around 1963, along with his father George and mother, Isa Valder, at his third generational home, ‘Nooroo’ at Mt Wilson in the Blue Mountains, NSW. George was working on the wisterias, Isa sitting on a small stool with a cuppa and a biscuit tin to collect the entry fees just inside the gate, and as always, Peter tending to the garden.



Peter had attended boarding school, so lived a remote life from the city but loved ‘Nooroo’ and its collection of rare exotic plants. He loved the symbiosis of the rhododendrons, daffodils, European conifers and the Australian waratahs, wattles and gums.



Because we were initially both teachers it was inevitable our paths would cross during the 1970s; and they often did. Always in friendly circumstances but when we both entered the media in the 1980s on different channels it became competitive and lots of fun.



But when we both started travelling to Asia, we became even firmer friends with a love for the same cultures and plants. I bumped into Peter twice in China, he was on a donkey collecting remote plants, images and knowledge, while I was in a coach with a group. We crossed paths twice in Japan too but on shank’s pony, fortunately.



Peter was the recipient of the Australian Institute of Horticulture’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020 for his services to horticulture, science, media, and the community. He never lost sight of his responsibilities and love of the gardening world. He was a member of the Australian Garden History Society and an active member of the Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, up until his last day.



Peter always had a smile, a kind word, a humble outlook and a botanical comment, if pushed. He was unique and we all miss him dearly. As will his partner of 55 years, Allan, and his nieces and nephews, Bronwyn, Caroline and Andrew.