About Garden Like Austen: Plants Jane Knew and Grew, and So Can You!
Beloved
novelist Jane Austen was the gardener in her family. Many of her favorite
plants are still available today, and there is good reason we seek these plants
200 years after her death. But, would she still know their names? This
presentation includes information on the ideal Austen plants for the beginning
gardener, a little garden history (which came first: the garden pink or pinking
shears?), a playful swipe at garden nomenclature, and a conspiracy theory of
garden writer Linda Beutler’s—a botanical and literary intrigue yet to be
disproved!
Central
to the presentation are images of Chawton Cottage in Hampshire, where Jane
Austen lived from 1809 until just before her death in 1817. It was here that
she wrote or rewrote all of her major novels. There are also pictures taken
out-and-about in Bath, where Jane lived from 1800-1805, until the death of her
father.
This
talk, first presented to a standing-room-only crowd at the 2015 Jane Austen Society of North America Annual
Meeting, includes an extensive handout with plant image and source lists,
cultivation tips, and bibliography.
About
the Speaker:
Linda Beutler is a fearless gardener
who grows a great variety of plants on a simple, flat 50’ x 100’ city lot in
the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Her first love was growing
flowers and foliage for cutting. That focus changed when Linda purchased her
first clematis as a misnamed plant. Linda has been the curator of the Rogerson
Clematis Collection at Luscher Farm since July 2007. She is the first woman and
first American to be elected president of the International Clematis Society in
June 2013; her term ends July 2018.
Additionally, Ms. Beutler has been an
instructor of horticulture at Clackamas Community College (CCC) since 1996. Her
courses include “Herbaceous Perennials” and “The Flower Arranger’s Garden.”
Linda lectures internationally on
numerous gardening topics, and is a garden writer for both local and national
publications, including Pacific Horticulture. She is the author of Gardening
with Clematis, Garden to Vase and most recently, Plant Lovers
Guide to Clematis. Meryton Press has published Linda’s forays into the
world of Jane Austen fan fiction, including The Red Chrysanthemum, in
2013; Longbourn to London, in 2014; A Will of Iron in 2015; My
Mr. Darcy a& Your Mr. Bingley in 2017. All are altered versions of Pride
and Prejudice. In 2014, The Red Chrysanthemum won a silver IPPY
award in the romance novel category, from the Independent Publisher Book
Awards.