Russell Seibert, 90; Director Helped Develop L.A. County Arboretum

Russell Seibert, 90, who was director of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Garden in Arcadia when it opened to the public in 1955, died Nov. 28 in Sarasota, Fla., where he had been living since 1979.

A native of Illinois, Seibert earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at Washington University in St. Louis and worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Costa Rica, Peru and Haiti before being named director of the arboretum. He specialized in the development of wild rubber sources.

At the arboretum, Seibert helped develop the former home site of E.J. “Lucky” Baldwin into a horticultural museum of national prominence. He oversaw the importation of plants from all over the world.

After leaving the arboretum, he became director of the Longwood Gardens created by Pierre S. du Pont in Kennett Square, Pa. There, he managed the site’s transition from a private estate to a horticultural display garden.