Lady Gardeners

The Lady Gardeners are those women who, from the eighteenth century to the present day, have been working in a garden, from imagining and creating it, to sowing, planting, pruning, painting and photographing plants, and moving from garden design to more urgent themes such as landscape conservation and environmental issues.

The Lady Gardeners to whom the chapters of this book are devoted are those women who, from the eighteenth century to the present day, have been working in a garden, from imagining and creating it, to sowing, planting, pruning, painting and photographing plants, and moving from garden design to more urgent themes such as landscape conservation and environmental issues. However, and this is the reason why this collection differs from other excellent models that deal with women and gardens, the essays also dwell on the personal lives and experiences of women who have lived in gardens, and enjoyed landscape, jotting simple notes in their diaries or working as landscape architects, describing it in stories for children, portraying strange exotic plants in their paintings, assembling bunches of flowers to decorate their home, and defending such spaces with their strong commitment to preservation. From England, and its long well-documented garden history, they have moved to Africa, the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, the Far East: the chapters in this book thus also confirm the vocation of the English garden that can enlarge its boundaries, transform and adapt itself to modern times and distant climates without foregoing its old roots.

Introduction: Lady Gardeners, from England to the wider world - Francesca Orestano Chapter 1: The Eighteenth Century: three princesses at Kew Gardens - Anna Zappatini Chapter 2: Dorothy Wordsworth: a Romantic garden in the Lake District - Anna Rudelli Chapter 3: Jane Loudon, notes on gardening for Victorian ladies - Anna Zappatini Chapter 4: Marianne North, the world is a garden to paint - Anna Zappatini Chapter 5: Children and Gardens by Gertrude Jekyll: training young gardeners - Anna Rudelli Chapter 6: Beatrix Potter, playful and scientific illustrations. From Peter Rabbit to landscape conservation - Anna Rudelli Chapter 7: Garden and Landscape in North America: Beatrix Farrand's inscription of Eden in the wilderness of the New World - Francesca Orestano Chapter 8: Vita Sackville-West: a garden that looks like home, from Knole to Sissinghurst - Francesca Orestano Chapter 9: Edna Walling and her gardening work, or 'the happiest days of my life' - Francesca Orestano Chapter 10: History, design, vision: Sylvia Crowe - Francesca Orestano Chapter 11: The adventure of an exotic species: Maria Teresa Parpagliolo Shephard - Francesca Orestano Chapter 12: Rosemary Verey: re-reading English history in the modern garden - Anna Zappatini Chapter 13: Beth Chatto: going along with the environment, or 'the right plant for the right place' - Anna Zappatini,

Introduction: Lady Gardeners, from England to the wider world – Francesca Orestano

Chapter 1: The Eighteenth Century: three princesses at Kew Gardens – Anna Zappatini

Chapter 2: Dorothy Wordsworth: a Romantic garden in the Lake District – Anna Rudelli

Chapter 3: Jane Loudon, notes on gardening for Victorian ladies – Anna Zappatini

Chapter 4: Marianne North, the world is a garden to paint – Anna Zappatini

Chapter 5: Children and Gardens by Gertrude Jekyll: training young gardeners – Anna Rudelli

Chapter 6: Beatrix Potter, playful and scientific illustrations. From Peter Rabbit to landscape conservation – Anna Rudelli

Chapter 7: Garden and Landscape in North America: Beatrix Farrand’s inscription of Eden in the wilderness of the New World – Francesca Orestano

Chapter 8: Vita Sackville-West: a garden that looks like home, from Knole to Sissinghurst – Francesca Orestano

Chapter 9: Edna Walling and her gardening work, or ‘the happiest days of my life’ – Francesca Orestano

Chapter 10: History, design, vision: Sylvia Crowe – Francesca Orestano

Chapter 11: The adventure of an exotic species: Maria Teresa Parpagliolo Shephard – Francesca Orestano

Chapter 12: Rosemary Verey: re-reading English history in the modern garden – Anna Zappatini

Chapter 13: Beth Chatto: going along with the environment, or ‘the right plant for the right place’ – Anna Zappatini

• Edited by Francesca Orestano
• Edited by Michael Vickers