But Fairchild, who was an observant plantsman and a meticulous record-keeper, was in a better position than the academic botanist to study the growth of plants in practice.

ECONOMIST: Of a practical nature

Though not so private as his architectural counterpart, the Dutch-born "plantsman" (as he humbly calls himself) is also something of an ascetic, living and working far from the madding crowd in a bucolic retreat.

WSJ: The Architect and the Plantsman | Partnership