Miss Willmott's Ghosts: the extraordinary life and gardens of a forgotten genius

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The book doesn't feature any photographic portrait of her supposedly favourite plant – the plants she generally spent most of her time on being narcissus, alpines, and her beloved roses. She claimed to have grown over 100,000 different varieties on her various estates, notably Warley Place in Essex, England. Hoverflies are now zipping between the flowers and a small copper butterfly is sunning itself in the cup of a pale bract. Thimbles of pale white-green flowers cradled in a luminous collar of silver, icicle-like bracts on stiff silver stems appear in spring and remain hauntingly beautiful right through to winter. Ellen Willmott (1858 – 1934) was an English heiress who became the leading plantswoman of her generation.

dropped a seed from another garden, but I like to think that the ghost of Miss Willmott herself planted it as a reminder to let my garden be as natural as possible. Stunning in the garden on a summer’s day, the plant is even more impressive on a moonlit night, when flowers give off what can only be described as a ghostly glow. I was amused, relieved, and a little embarrassed a few weeks back when a respected and long-standing Landscape Architect stated, in a meeting of industry leaders, something along the lines of ‘what .The beginnings of this prickly myth can be traced back to her conspicuous absence at what should have been the pinnacle of her career: the Royal Horticultural Society's inaugural Victoria Medal of Honour Award ceremony, at which she was due to be one of only two female recipients. Across the world there is evidence that pollinating animals have suffered via loss of habitats, disease and chemical misuse, creating a shortage of these vital creatures. Rising atop a basal rosette of heart-shaped green leaves, this short-lived perennial or biennial self-sows generously and remains in the garden year after year for our utmost pleasure. Today, Ellen Willmott is recognized for her many contributions to horticulture as an active member of the Royal Horticulture Society, but reckless spending on plants finally caught up with her.

These days, I stick to collecting seeds of benevolent annuals and biennials — continuity and obsolescence are built into their nature. This specially adapted Rootgrow™ mycorrhizal fungi will boost the growth of acid-loving plants like rhododendrons, azaleas, heathers and blueberries.As Willmott admirers went, there were few more ardent than her mentor, Swiss alpinist Henry Correvon.

She accessorised old, mended, unfashionable clothes with buttonholes made with from rare plants only she had been able to get into flower knowing that, in the right circles, they screamed money and talent. To learn more about the obsessive and brilliant Ellen Willmott I highly recommend Sandra Lawrence’s wonderful book, ‘ Miss Willmott’s Ghost: the extraordinary life and gardens of a forgotten genius’. Giant sea holly is a tall biennial, easy to grow in cooler temperate climates (USDA zones 4 to 7) and able to survive in poor, well-drained, even dry soils where it maintains itself by self-sowing. Trick-or-treating is an organised affair with parents shepherding offspring around to collect plastic-wrapped sweets in plastic pumpkin buckets from friendly neighbours.Miss Willmott and Gertrude Jekyll were the only two women amongst 58 men to be awarded the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) in 1897, the year of its institution to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. This book is as much the story of Lawrence’s exploration of this material – much of it mouse-chewed and decayed – as it is of Wilmott. The common name refers to Ellen Willmott, who is said to have carried seeds at all times, planting them in the gardens of fellow horticulturalists. Examine regularly whilst in fridge and immediately remove any seeds which show signs of germination.