Phyllis Emily Reiss, garden designer, was born at Ashlyars, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, on 3 October 1886. In 1933 she moved to Tintinhull House. There she created a garden with six compartments. After 1945 she designed a garden as a memorial to a nephew killed in the Second World War.
In July 1939 Reiss made two broadcasts for the BBC entitled 'In my Garden'. In 1959 she gave Tintinhull to the National Trust although she lived there until her death on the 18th September 1961.