Adrian Slack (1933 – 3 June 2018) was a landscape gardener, plantsman, author and authority on carnivorous plants. He won 5 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show, and authored two books: Carnivorous Plants (1979, 2005) and Insect-Eating Plants and How to Grow Them (1986, 2006).D'Amato, P. 1988. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 17(4): 125–126.
Both of Adrian Slack's books are considered to have excellent cultivation information and are highly regarded in the carnivorous plant community. After a long time out of print, both of them have recently been reissued. Slack developed hundreds of cultivars and many have been named after him.Meyers-Rice, B. & J. Schlauer 2000. Cultivars developed by Adrian Slack. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 29(4): 104–105. The sundew species Drosera slackii he cultivated was named in his honour.Cheek, M. 1987. A new species of Drosera from South Africa. Kew Bulletin 42(3): 738.Gibson, R. 2000. Drosera slackii – a living jewel from South Africa. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 29(4): 107–109.
Slack founded and ran Marston Exotics carnivorous plant nursery in England before suffering a stroke in 1986 that caused his early retirement.The Savage Garden, Cultivating Carnivorous Plants by Peter D'Amato.
Slack was featured on a 1981 episode of Nature WatchNature Watch: Adrian Slack. BFI Film & TV Database. and in an accompanying book published the same year.Pettifer, J. & R. Brown 1981. Adrian Slack: Playing God with the Plants of Prey. In: Nature Watch. Michael Joseph, London. pp. 59–73. .
References
Cantley, R., M. Cheek, P.F. Gardner, P. Mann, B. Meyers-Rice, N. Parker & P. Temple 2000. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 29(4): 109–116. D'Amato, P. 2000. Savage Garden: Slack-potting the dewy pine. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 29(4): 101–102. Marthaler, O. 1996. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 25(3): 94–95. Parker, N. 1996. Carnivorous plants at Millfield School. The Carnivorous Plant Society Journal 19: 38–41.