Early Life
Evans was born in Santa Monica, California, where he learned botany from his father, a second-generation horticulturalist. He joined the Merchant Marine in 1928 and traveled around the world on the SS President Harrison, gathering seeds for his father's garden from the countries he visited.
After returning from duty, Evans studied at Pasadena City College and then at Stanford, majoring in geology. He left school early in 1931 because of the Great Depression, and returned home to transform his father's garden into a nursery business selling rare and exotic plants to the Hollywood elite. One of his customers was Walt Disney, who asked Evans to landscape the grounds of his Holmby Hills home and surrounding gardens. Disney was impressed by Evan's skill and invited Evans and his brother, Jack, to landscape what would become Disneyland.
Read more about this topic: Morgan "Bill" Evans
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