The women who made gardening what it is today - and why they don't get more recognition

True, we now have more female designers at Chelsea Flower Show than ever before, the likes of Carol Klein and the late, great Beth Chatto are household names, and the current and previous Director Generals of the RHS are both women. But both historically and today it’s the men in horticulture who seem to have the biggest profiles. Maybe it’s sexism, maybe to quote Carol Klein, there is a ‘grass ceiling’ in horticulture?

Women have led the way as plant breeders, plant hunters, botanists, educators, designers and botanic artists for the last 500 years.

I also think it goes unacknowledged that women are the primary horticultural consumers – women make up around 60 per cent of the Gardeners' World audience, across TV, magazine and podcast. And so much of horticulture today is a result of a series of extraordinary women through the ages. And I don’t mean just hands-on female gardeners. Women have led the way as plant breeders, plant hunters, botanists, educators, designers and botanic artists for the last 500 years.

Let's take a look back

Famed Edwardian garden designer Gertrude Jekyll might be the poster child for historic women in horticulture but many came before her. Arguably the female healers of the past (often labelled as witches and persecuted by fearful men) were among the earliest gardeners and foragers. It’s these women, although widely unacknowledged, who are responsible for much of the medicine that we rely on today.

Skipping slightly further forward in history I’d like to introduce you to the extraordinary Jeanne Baret (1740 -1807). She was the first woman to circumnavigate the globe, working as a naturalist on an expedition ship. Of course, back then women were not allowed on ships, but she managed to go undetected for two years disguised as a man during which time she collected over 6,000 plant specimens and discovered bougainvillea.

Relatively hot on her heels was Marianne North who lapped the globe several times over in the mid-1800s producing stunning (and accurate) botanical paintings which now reside in the North Gallery at Kew Gardens. And it’s not just relatively wealthy European women who’ve changed horticulture. Indian plant breeder extraordinaire Janaki Anmal (1897-1984) bred what is still to this day the sweetest, highest-yielding sugar cane on the planet. Thanks Janaki - though I’m not sure my teeth agree!

The list of hugely influential female garden types is beyond what I can cover here but let’s not forget Octavia Hill, founder of the National Trust, Lady Eve Balfour, founder of the Soil Association, and Sylvia Crow – one of the earliest chairs of the Institute of Landscape Architects. Ohh, and did I mention Fanny Rollo Wilkinson? In the late 1800s she secured a place at the ‘men only’ School of Landscape Architecture in Crystal Place and went on to design a mind-blowing 75 public parks and gardens in London. Or Beatrix Havergal who set up the famed (female-only) Waterperry School of Horticulture in 1932.

And only a few years back I was lucky enough to interview the female scientist whose life’s work is currently culminating in the safe eradication (through the introduction of a fungal pathogen) of the himalayan balsam which blights UK waterways, landscapes and train tracks.

Women are, have been and always will be central to horticulture. I think it more than time their extraordinary efforts are acknowledged. I’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to amazing women in horticulture. Who are the horticultural heroines past and present that would make it to your list?

Get in touch:

Want to share your views on why women have historically been overlooked in horticulture? Or is there an important historical figure who inspired you to start gardening? Email us your thoughts at: letters@gardenersworld.com

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