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Garden Writers
ginny12first

Helen Van Pelt Wilson, RIP

21 years ago

Helen Van Pelt Wilson was one of the best garden writers of the second half of the twentieth century, in my opinion. Though I have not seen anything new by her since the late 1970s and I knew she was elderly, I have long wondered what happened to her. Just yesterday, I heard that she had died a year or so ago, just short of her 102nd birthday!

Helen Van Pelt Wilson wrote a number of extremely popular garden books and uncounted magazine articles. She told how to garden by writing about her own garden experiences in her own garden. The first one was in Philadelphia and the last, where she lived for many years, was in Westport CT.

I discovered her through her book, The New Perennials Preferred. It was and is a terrific book on gardening with perennials by someone who has done it, not just read about it. Her garden became almost as familiar to me as my own. In fact, I had it out of the library--it was out of print--so many times, I finally tracked down my own copy.

Helen Van Pelt Wilson was a revered name among gardeners from the end of WW2 through at least the 1970s. Her books are still well worth searching out. What a shame that her death did not receive coverage in the horticultural press! I pay tribute to her here and hope some of you remember her too.

Comments (10)

  • 21 years ago

    She was a truly gifted writer. It's sad how quickly writers are forgotten in our hectic age.

  • 21 years ago

    Helen Van Pelt Wilson was my idol. I have her book "Helen Van Pelt Wilson's Own Garden and Landscape Book" and have read it over and over again. I keep it next to my bed, and I only loan it out to very close friends who can recite some of her fabulous phases after returning it to me. Where do I go to find out how her life proceeded after about age 70? I'm thinking she had a daughter and guessing she was divorced. This world was a better place because of her.

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  • 20 years ago

    Are there anymore gifted grace filled authors? Like others, her writings stand apart for me because of their humor, balance, taste and willingness to share the whole gardening experience in such a personal way. All her books, especially "Own Garden", are poetic.

  • 20 years ago

    I believe this is the same helen Van Pelt that started the Garden Society of Marin (California) with Caroline Livermore. Comments

  • 20 years ago

    I don't know how that would be possible as she seems to have lived in Philadelphia and then Connecticut, where she died at a great age, as you see. But you never know. When was that society founded?

  • 20 years ago

    The society was founded in 1947. In Ross, Marin County. We knew she went back east I had just never seen her referred to as Wilson. A lot of the old records are lost and a lot of folks have gone off to that big garden in the sky.

  • 20 years ago

    It must be another person as Helen Van Pelt Wilson was in the East the entire time. Maybe a relative? Or maybe a coincidence on the name?

  • 20 years ago

    I have done some digging and the mystery remains. It is possible that the two women are one and the same but I have no definite confirmation and some contradictory info. Maybe someone can solve it.

  • 20 years ago

    i, too, have read her " ... own garden & landscape book" over and over again. i credit her with finally making a gardener out of me after 30 years. i was lucky to snag her "the fragrant year" on ebay a few months ago and it has been the best winter reading.

  • 20 years ago

    "The Fragrant Year" is an absolutely wonderful book, which Helen Van Pelt Wilson co-wrote with Leonie Bell. I'm so glad you mentioned it. It's about scented plants for garden and house--Wilson was quite a house plant expert as well. I have this book, along with Louise Beebe Wilder's 1932 classic, "The Fragrant Path". Each of these is timeless and wonderful reading, even for non-gardeners. You can easily get old garden books thru such online services as www.bookfinder.com. There are others but bookfinder is the most comprehensive, in my experience.

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