Miss
Jekyll belonged to an English family with a
background of intelligence and culture. She was
brought up in a family which loved music and other
arts. She learned to know flowers and trees with an
intimacy and warmth which influenced and stimulated
everyone who knew her during her long life.
She met William Robinson and she became interested
in his viewpoints and ideas. She wrote articles for
his magazine and in 1880 began to design gardens. The
style of gardening which appealed to her was "woodland
and water treated 'naturally' in the Robinsonian
manner." Her sense of color and planting for color
effect was the best known of anyone in England. She
was much interested in choosing the best plants. She
set a high standard for plant material and was not
influenced by the current fashion of the wealthy.
In addition to her articles she wrote several books
which had a wide circulation in England. Among these
were:
Jekyll, Gertrude, Wood and Garden (1899)
Home and Garden (1900)
Jekyll, Gertrude and Edward Mawly, Roses for
English Gardens (1902)
Jekyll, Gertrude, Old West Surrey (1904)
Flower Decoration in the House (1907)
Children and Gardens (1908)
Color in the Flower Garden (1908)
Annuals and Biennials (1920)
Jekyll, Gertrude and Christopher Hussey, Garden
Ornament (1927)
Jekyll, Gertrude, Wall, Water and Woodland
Gardens (1933)
William Robinson and Miss Jekyll, states Hadfield,
"set the pattern of the best in English gardens for
many decades."
