King, Louisa Yeomans (1863–1948)

American gardener. Born Louisa Boyd Yeomans in Washington, New Jersey, on October 17, 1863; died in Milton, Massachusetts, on January 16, 1948; elder of two daughters of Alfred Yeomans (a Presbyterian cleric) and Elizabeth Blythe (Ramsay) Yeomans; educated in private schools; married Francis King, on June 12, 1890; children: Elizabeth King ; Henry William King; Frances King .

Louisa King was drawn into gardening by her mother-in-law, whom she called "one of the ablest and most devoted gardeners of her generation." Louisa planted her first garden in 1902 and devoted the rest her life to horticultural pursuits. She was a founding member of the Garden Club of America (1913) and served as president of the Woman's National Farm and Garden Association from 1914 to 1921.

Beginning in 1910, King wrote magazine articles on gardening and, in 1915, published the first of her nine books, The Well-Considered Garden. King advocated artistry over practicality, particularly when it came to groupings and color considerations. "I can admire a perfect Frau Karl Druschki rose, a fine spray of Countess Spencer sweet pea," she wrote in the June 1910 issue of Garden Magazine, "but never without thinking of the added beauty sure to be its part if a little sea-lavender were placed next to the sweet pea, or if more of the delicious roses were together." In 1921, Louisa King became the first woman to receive the George White Medal of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the highest gardening award in America. She was also a fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain.

sources:

Edgerly, Lois Stiles. Give Her This Day. Gardiner, ME: Tilbury House, 1990.

Read, Phyllis J., and Bernard L. Witlieb. The Book of Women's Firsts. NY: Random House, 1992.

suggested reading:

James, Edward T., ed. Notable American Women, 1607–1950. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971.

Barbara Morgan , Melrose, Massachusetts