Rodger Elliot has been propagating and growing Australian plants since the 1950s and for the greater part of that time was involved in commercial horticulture. The author of a number of horticultural and botanical books and contributor to local and overseas horticultural publications, Elliot is currently involved in co-ordinating Australian plant breeding programs and is also a member of the Royal Botanic Gardens Board in Victoria. In 2001 he received an Order of Australia award for his work with Australian plants, and other awards include the Australian Institute of Horticulture's Award of Excellence for Outstanding Contribution to Horticulture, the Australian Natural History Medallion and the Gold Veitch Memorial Medallion from the Royal Horticultural Society. In some editions he is credited as W. Rodger Elliot