Hope, Claude

▪ 2001

      American horticulturist (b. May 10, 1907, Sweetwater, Texas—d. July 14, 2000, Dulce Nombre de Jesús, Costa Rica), transformed North American gardens with the introduction of impatiens, flowering annuals that flourished in shady conditions and later became the number one bedding plant in the U.S. Hope discovered the plants in Costa Rica, where he found them growing wild and spindly. Following years of breeding and hybridizing, he was successful in the 1960s in producing compact plants with profuse blooms. At the time of his death, there were some 900 species of impatiens. Hope first became enamoured with Costa Rica during a brief stint there while serving in the army in World War II. After the war Hope made his home in Costa Rica and established the PanAmerican Seed Co. In 1953 he founded Linda Vista, S.A., which became one of the world's largest flower-seed producers.

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