Raymond Evison

Raymond John Evison is a nurseryman, clematis breeder, lecturer, author and photographer. Born in 1944 he started his horticultural career at the age of 15 in Shropshire and moved to the island of Guernsey to set up The Guernsey Clematis Nursery in 1984.

Clematis Nursery

In his lifetime he has introduced over 200 clematis species and cultivars, and The Guernsey Clematis Nursery remains one of the largest specialist producers of young clematis plants and supplies plants worldwide, distributing its plants via both wholesale and retail channels.

Evison’s most recent clematis introductions have focused on compact ornamental clematis cultivars more suitable for small gardens and have been achieved via a joint venture with Danish rose specialist Poulsen Roser A/S, and more recently through his own company Raymond J. Evison Ltd.

His first book "Making the Most of Clematis" was issued in 1977. This was followed by "The Gardener's Guide to Growing Clematis" (1998), "Clematis for Everyone" (2000) Clematites du 3 millenaire and more recently “Clematis for Small Spaces”(2007).

Since the 1980s, Evison has had strong representation within numerous horticultural bodies both British and international. After senior level involvement in the International Plants Propagators Society (as a previous international president) and the National Council for Conservation of Plants and Gardens, he was the main driving force behind the formation of the International Clematis Society in 1984, for which he was president from 1989–1991 and is now an honorary fellow.

He has held various positions as chairman of Royal Horticultural Society Committees as well as being a member of the RHS Council for 16 years and he was elected a Vice President of the RHS in 2005.

At a local level within Guernsey he heads up a project targeting the restoration of a Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden as the President of The Guernsey Botanical Trust. He has also taken and supplied photographs of clematis and local wild flowers to the Guernsey Philatelic Bureau for reproduction on Guernsey postage stamps. In 2021 he set up the ‘Grow Guernsey Natives ‘ scheme for La Societe Guernesiaise, Botany Section, to conserve and produce rare Guernsey native plants, to save them for prosperity.

Raymond Evison still lives in Guernsey but travels widely both for business, plant hunting and lecture presentations on clematis.

Honours

In 1995 he was awarded the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour for his outstanding service to British Horticulture.

He was awarded the RHS Reginald Cory Memorial Cup in 2004 for far-reaching work in breeding and developing new clematis cultivars.

In 2008 his book, “Clematis for Small Spaces”, earned him the Garden Media Guild award for Reference Book Of The Year.

He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2000 Birthday Honours for services to horticulture on Guernsey and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to horticulture and Guernsey.

Works “Making the Most of Clematis” (1977) . “The Gardeners Guide to Growing Clematis” (1998) . “Clematis for Everyone” (2000) . “Clematis for Small Spaces” (2007) .