Women Who Shaped Garden History
New to garden history? This page will help you find your way in. The subject is vast, but there are a few entry points that make it accessible and enjoyable from the start.
The best way into garden history is through the people who made it. If you enjoy biographies, start with Gertrude Jekyll — her story touches on art, design, the Arts and Crafts movement, and the transformation of English gardens. If you prefer adventure, try Marianne North or Maria Sibylla Merian, both of whom traveled the world painting plants. For a more recent starting point, Beth Chatto's story connects garden history to contemporary ecological thinking.
There is no substitute for seeing a historic garden in person. If you are in England, Sissinghurst, Hidcote, and the Beth Chatto Gardens are all open to the public and represent different eras and approaches. In the United States, Dumbarton Oaks and The Mount are both visitable and beautifully maintained.
For a general overview, Penelope Hobhouse's The Story of Gardening covers the global history of gardens in an accessible and well-illustrated format. For something more personal, Margery Fish's We Made a Garden is a short, charming, and often funny account of creating a garden, and it requires no prior knowledge. For the science-minded, Beth Chatto's The Dry Garden is both a practical guide and an introduction to ecological thinking.
This site is designed so you can follow your interests. If you are drawn to a particular era, start with the era pages. If a particular type of contribution interests you — design, plant hunting, illustration, writing — try the topic pages. Each page links to related pages, so you can follow the threads that interest you most.