Beth Chatto was born Betty Diana Little in Good Easter, Essex, England on June 27, 1923. She was a horticulturist, who lectured on the importance of providing garden plants with an environment as close as possible to their native habitat. She wrote numerous books including The Dry Garden, The Damp Garden, Plant Portraits, Beth Chatto's Garden Notebook, The Green Tapestry, The Gravel Garden, and The Woodland Garden. Letters she exchanged with Christopher Lloyd were published in Dear Friend and Gardener: Letters on Life and Gardening. She received several awards including the Lawrence Memorial Medal, the Royal Horticultural Society's Victoria Medal of Honor, and the Garden Writers' Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. She was appointed OBE in 2002. She died on May 13, 2018 at the age of 94.