A Tribute for International Women’s Day
Women, Gardens, and a Whole Lot of Fabulousness – A Tribute for International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day! The day when the world sits up, takes notice, and collectively realizes what we, as gardeners, have always known—women are absolutely blooming brilliant.
Because, let’s be honest, if you’ve ever been in a garden—any garden—there’s a very high chance a woman had something to do with its beauty. Whether it’s the grandmother teaching you to deadhead roses (“It’s character-building, dear”), the auntie sneaking you cuttings in suspicious-looking plastic bags (“Just pop it in soil, it’ll grow”), or the mother gently scolding you for trampling the tulips (“Shoes off the flower bed, please”), women have always been the quiet, determined, muddy-handed forces behind some of the world’s most magical green spaces.
And today, we’re saying a big, glorious, and slightly teary-eyed THANK YOU. Yes, we thank you every day, but today—because the rest of the world is paying attention—we’re putting it in writing.
The Grandmothers, Mothers, Aunties & Mentors – Keepers of the Green Wisdom
These are the women who taught us that gardening is not just about plants—it’s about patience, care, and a healthy respect for Mother Nature (who, by the way, is also a woman, just saying).
They showed us how to dig deep—literally and metaphorically. They knew the secrets of the soil, the rhythm of the seasons, and the exact right moment to offer a cup of tea after a long day of pruning.
They passed down knowledge, whispered plant names like magic spells, and somehow always knew when you hadn’t watered properly. They taught us resilience—because if you can face a stubborn perennial that refuses to bloom year after year, you can face anything.
The Trailblazers – Women Who Changed Gardening Forever
And then, of course, we have some of the icons. The rule-breakers, the visionaries, the women who didn’t just garden—they changed the way the world thought about gardens.
Gertrude Jekyll – The queen of garden design. She painted with flowers, creating sweeping, colorful landscapes that still inspire us today.
Beth Chatto – A pioneer of ecological planting, proving that you don’t fight nature—you work with it. (A philosophy that many of us wish our tomatoes would adopt.)
Beatrix Farrand – One of the first professional female landscape architects (because obviously, men thought they had a monopoly on hedges before). She designed some of the most breathtaking gardens in history.
Vita Sackville-West – The poetic soul behind Sissinghurst Castle Garden, proving that gardens could be wild, romantic, and structured all at once.
Marianne North – A Victorian botanical artist who literally traveled the world documenting rare plants, making her one of history’s most fearless plant-loving adventurers.
The Everyday Garden Goddesses – That’s You!
And, of course, let’s not forget the women who make the gardening world what it is today—you.
The women who wake up early to tend to their gardens, who battle bindweed with the determination of a warrior, who share seeds like treasures, and who instinctively know that one more plant will definitely fit in that border.
You are the backbone of this world, the hands in the soil, the minds behind the beauty. You are carrying on a tradition of strength, creativity, and sheer brilliance that has shaped history—one garden at a time.
So today, while the world catches up and finally acknowledges what we’ve known all along, we raise our trowels, take a muddy bow, and say: thank you, women of the gardening world.