American horticulturist and landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-1852) was interested in all aspects of nature and how people might gain pleasure and benefit from it.

Andrew Jackson Downing was born at Newburgh, N.Y., on Oct. 31, 1815; he remained a lifelong resident there. His father was a wheelwright and later a nurseryman. He had little formal education but learned a good deal from reading, corresponding with innumerable professional horticulturists in America and abroad, and his own keen observation. When the father died in 1822, the eldest son took over the nursery business, later joined by Andrew. In 1837 Andrew bought his brother's share of the business. The following year he married Caroline E. DeWint, a grandniece of President John Quincy Adams.

For the next 14 years Downing improved his knowledge of horticulture by study and long, observant walks in the nearby hills. He published the results of his research in the...