Polly Hill | Noted horticulturist, 100

Polly Hill, a horticulturist who helped develop standards for record-keeping in botanical gardens nationwide, has died. She was 100.

Mrs. Hill, who founded an arboretum on Martha's Vineyard off Massachusetts, died April 25 of heart failure at her home in Hockessin, Del., according to son Joseph.

She studied botany and horticulture at the University of Delaware and at Longwood Gardens. She served on a committee that developed standards for record-keeping in botanical gardens throughout the country.

After she and her husband became owners of Barnard's Inn Farm on Martha's Vineyard, she began transforming 20 acres of fields surrounding their summer home into a showplace of trees and shrubs grown from seed.

By 1997, when she was 90, her garden contained about 1,700 kinds of woody plants. The property was renamed the Polly Hill Arboretum and established as a nonprofit organization for research and education.

Born Mary Louisa Butcher in Ardmore, she became known internationally for her skill in growing hardy trees and shrubs from seed, something she began in her 50s. - AP