My mother, Barbara Hulme, who has died aged 90, was notable as the first botanist to produce experimental hybrids in the genus Atriplex (the oraches, which are very common on seaside strandlines) by controlled crossing. In recognition, the Canadian botanist PM Taschereau named a later hybrid after her: Atriplex X hulmeana.
Barbara was born in York to William Poulter, a master tailor, and his wife, Leah (nee Skulsky), who also worked in the tailor’s shop. She was a studious child who liked spending her Saturdays in the local library. She aimed to read a whole book in a day so she could borrow a different book to read during the week. Barbara sometimes hid books at lunchtime so that no-one else could take them out. She attended Tang Hall junior school before gaining a scholarship to Queen Anne grammar school.
In 1948 Barbara went to Edinburgh University to study botany. She achieved a first as well as five examination prizes, staying for her PhD researching Atriplex. Here she met Ken Hulme, who was the experimental garden foreman at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. During her time at the university Barbara also assisted Peter Davies with his work on the flora of Turkey.
Barbara and Ken married in 1955 and she joined him in Birmingham, where he had become assistant senior horticulturist in the City of Birmingham parks department, and she finished writing up her research and briefly taught. They moved to the Wirral in 1957 when Ken was appointed director of Ness Gardens, at the University of Liverpool.
Motherhood quickly followed and Barbara spent most of the rest of her life caring for others; her three children, then her father, and latterly Ken. Barbara played an active role in her community as a school governor. She attended church, where she helped cook pensioners’ lunches into her late 70s despite being older than many of the recipients. She was a keen flower arranger and worked with a group of botanical artists, advising them on scientific accuracy. She was a keen needlewoman and knitter and an excellent hostess.
Barbara loved to travel, trips often involving plant hunting and visiting gardens. A highlight was her trip with Ken to China for a botanic gardens symposium. They led many plant finding holidays and gardens weekends in the UK and abroad.
Ken died in 2010 and Barbara later moved to Cornwall, to be near family. She is survived by her children, John, Kathy and me, and her three grandchildren, James, Lauren and Nathan.
