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Miss Willmott's Ghosts
Ellen Ann Willmott was a remarkable woman whose achievements in horticulture, botany, landscape architecture, photography and more, should have made her one of the most well-known trailblazers of her age. Yet, both posthumously and within her lifetime, she instead became known as a bitter, cantankerous and eccentric miser, and her reputation has been forever stained by the image of her maliciously seeding other people's gardens with thorns.
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. Universally interpreted as the rudest of snubs, nobody has ever stopped to question why Ellen wasn't there, or if she was really as difficult and mean as she has been portrayed ever since.
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. Universally interpreted as the rudest of snubs, nobody has ever stopped to question why Ellen wasn't there, or if she was really as difficult and mean as she has been portrayed ever since.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published April 19, 2020
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273 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 5, 2022
I listened to the audio version of this book -brilliantly narrated!
As a lover of gardening and gardens I was intrigued by this book as I knew nothing of Ellen Willmott, who gardened near me at Warley Place in Brentwood, Essex. I just hope this book changes that fact as she was a remarkable women with a fascinating story to tell and I'm very grateful to the author for bringing Miss Willmott to my attention!
She was a true pioneer and trailblazer at the time, yet her achievements have gone largely unnoticed and you just wonder why that is. Reading more about her she wasn't a woman to tow the line, and she did things her own way which probably rankled the suits and attitudes of the days where women were not so hands on, especially in the world of horticulture. But she didn't stop others shaping her future and she travelled extensively putting together an astonishing plant collection, most of which is now lost amidst the ruins of Warley Place, now run as a successful nature reserve, and somewhere I definitely need to visit soon!
Ellen was a very wealthy woman so that helped her on her plant journey but gave her a huge determination to be the best she could and to challenge attitudes around her. Rumours were thrown out about her and her name, and her legacy has always been that she was a prickly customer. The research put into this book goes to show a completely different side to her and she led an amazing life and had a story I'm very glad to have been able to find out about thanks to this book.
As a lover of gardening and gardens I was intrigued by this book as I knew nothing of Ellen Willmott, who gardened near me at Warley Place in Brentwood, Essex. I just hope this book changes that fact as she was a remarkable women with a fascinating story to tell and I'm very grateful to the author for bringing Miss Willmott to my attention!
She was a true pioneer and trailblazer at the time, yet her achievements have gone largely unnoticed and you just wonder why that is. Reading more about her she wasn't a woman to tow the line, and she did things her own way which probably rankled the suits and attitudes of the days where women were not so hands on, especially in the world of horticulture. But she didn't stop others shaping her future and she travelled extensively putting together an astonishing plant collection, most of which is now lost amidst the ruins of Warley Place, now run as a successful nature reserve, and somewhere I definitely need to visit soon!
Ellen was a very wealthy woman so that helped her on her plant journey but gave her a huge determination to be the best she could and to challenge attitudes around her. Rumours were thrown out about her and her name, and her legacy has always been that she was a prickly customer. The research put into this book goes to show a completely different side to her and she led an amazing life and had a story I'm very glad to have been able to find out about thanks to this book.
May 28, 2024
DNF'ing this at 25%.
(3:06:30 in the audiobook)
It didn't really catch my interest at any point. It seems like a lot of guesswork on a very loose base. Essentially a kind of a gossip about people who died ages ago. Not that it seemed malicious, I just didn't quite catch on to why it was interesting or supposed to be.
Probably fine for some people. The writing wasn't bad, I just never got excited about it.
(3:06:30 in the audiobook)
It didn't really catch my interest at any point. It seems like a lot of guesswork on a very loose base. Essentially a kind of a gossip about people who died ages ago. Not that it seemed malicious, I just didn't quite catch on to why it was interesting or supposed to be.
Probably fine for some people. The writing wasn't bad, I just never got excited about it.
January 28, 2023
Miss Willmott's Ghosts is a sweeping biography of a gardening genius lost from most conscious memory but whose spirit lives in the dozens or more plant species named for her or associated with her.
The book is well researched and includes newly found possessions and writings belonging to Ellen Willmott. Archival and preservation work descriptions are interesting but brief. The author marks each chapter with a brief description of some newly found object and weaves it in to the chapter's focus.
The author makes some pretty compelling interpretations of some of Miss Willmott's most well known eccentricities and gaffes and generally treats Ellen Willmott kindly and gently. At its heart, this is a book about Victorian and Edwardian Royal Courtiers, the upper crust and high society living. Worth the read just for the ridiculously lavish lifestyles of a bygone age - at one point our subject buys a Swiss cabin purported to have hosted Napoleon some decades earlier during one of his campaigns - and moves the whole thing to her estate in England to be used as a boathouse/dress up cottage.
To be honest, I found the author's writing style to be a bit unfocused and shifting often without transition. With so many characters and relationships described, I was confused with the author's ever changing names for subjects, switching between formal and informal names at random. In some places, I felt like the author channeled her socialite subject and was just name dropping, making some scenes feel quite random and not tied to the story or we get what feels like the author's starting off a real corker of a side story to just leave us hanging without any more details.
I'm not always sure why a particular bon mot is important but more often than not, interesting enough to pursue in its own reading. In fact, this book includes so many events and scenes that I have a new reading list of over 30 new plants, places and people featured in the book to last me a year at least.
This is a full retelling of the riches to rags life of Miss Willmott with some educated guesses as to her motives based on new evidence. It spends it's time everywhere and as a result spends less time in her gardens than I would have liked.
I think I read the last few chapters of the book from behind my fingers as Miss Willmott descends into poverty and endures indignity after indignity - truly great cringe worthy reading. At the same time, this woman is laying the foundations of what would later become horticultural schools to include women and some of the first ideas around creating what will be called a garden centre decades later. I wept for the awful decisions she made that lost the only examples of some of the world's rarest plants and loved how she booby trapped her most expensive daffodils from plant thieves.
I would have loved for this book to include a list of plants named for her/with her and I would have loved most if more of Miss Willmott's gardening knowledge was still known.
After reading this book, I acquired some Miss Willmott's Ghost seeds that I'm hoping to grow in her honor.
The book is well researched and includes newly found possessions and writings belonging to Ellen Willmott. Archival and preservation work descriptions are interesting but brief. The author marks each chapter with a brief description of some newly found object and weaves it in to the chapter's focus.
The author makes some pretty compelling interpretations of some of Miss Willmott's most well known eccentricities and gaffes and generally treats Ellen Willmott kindly and gently. At its heart, this is a book about Victorian and Edwardian Royal Courtiers, the upper crust and high society living. Worth the read just for the ridiculously lavish lifestyles of a bygone age - at one point our subject buys a Swiss cabin purported to have hosted Napoleon some decades earlier during one of his campaigns - and moves the whole thing to her estate in England to be used as a boathouse/dress up cottage.
To be honest, I found the author's writing style to be a bit unfocused and shifting often without transition. With so many characters and relationships described, I was confused with the author's ever changing names for subjects, switching between formal and informal names at random. In some places, I felt like the author channeled her socialite subject and was just name dropping, making some scenes feel quite random and not tied to the story or we get what feels like the author's starting off a real corker of a side story to just leave us hanging without any more details.
I'm not always sure why a particular bon mot is important but more often than not, interesting enough to pursue in its own reading. In fact, this book includes so many events and scenes that I have a new reading list of over 30 new plants, places and people featured in the book to last me a year at least.
This is a full retelling of the riches to rags life of Miss Willmott with some educated guesses as to her motives based on new evidence. It spends it's time everywhere and as a result spends less time in her gardens than I would have liked.
I think I read the last few chapters of the book from behind my fingers as Miss Willmott descends into poverty and endures indignity after indignity - truly great cringe worthy reading. At the same time, this woman is laying the foundations of what would later become horticultural schools to include women and some of the first ideas around creating what will be called a garden centre decades later. I wept for the awful decisions she made that lost the only examples of some of the world's rarest plants and loved how she booby trapped her most expensive daffodils from plant thieves.
I would have loved for this book to include a list of plants named for her/with her and I would have loved most if more of Miss Willmott's gardening knowledge was still known.
After reading this book, I acquired some Miss Willmott's Ghost seeds that I'm hoping to grow in her honor.
March 8, 2024
I am particularly fond of the plant "Miss Willmott's Ghost" but have not her skill in raising any sort of seed... it makes a very appropriate title for an engaging biography of a Victorian/Edwardian doyenne of gardening.
It's engaging not only for the nature of the subject - depicted unattractively by posterity and clearly a complex character, but for the insight into the process of research. The account of masked unpacking of cellar-dwelling papers, some of which disintegrated in the author's hands, and the careful work with an elderly man with dementia to explore the potential truth of an anecdote enliven the reading further - the book never feels weighed down, as some do, by the burden of the writer's vaunted hard work. She is clear when she is making surmises and doesn't drag out her answer to the big mystery with which the book opens. That said, if there is a 'baddie' in this book, it is Gian, even though Sandra Lawrence shows us that some of her behaviour may have been 'necessary' for the time and 'necessary' for dealing safely with Ellen.
The bum note in the book is where no research has been done - there is a paragraph on whether, as has been suggested, Ellen Willmott was autistic which should have stopped with the very accurate "I know very little about definitions" rather than continuing in a way which leaves no doubt of this. There is so much in the book that she did look into to provide rich context, I am surprised this didn't happen.
That's one paragraph however in a lovely book.
It's engaging not only for the nature of the subject - depicted unattractively by posterity and clearly a complex character, but for the insight into the process of research. The account of masked unpacking of cellar-dwelling papers, some of which disintegrated in the author's hands, and the careful work with an elderly man with dementia to explore the potential truth of an anecdote enliven the reading further - the book never feels weighed down, as some do, by the burden of the writer's vaunted hard work. She is clear when she is making surmises and doesn't drag out her answer to the big mystery with which the book opens. That said, if there is a 'baddie' in this book, it is Gian, even though Sandra Lawrence shows us that some of her behaviour may have been 'necessary' for the time and 'necessary' for dealing safely with Ellen.
The bum note in the book is where no research has been done - there is a paragraph on whether, as has been suggested, Ellen Willmott was autistic which should have stopped with the very accurate "I know very little about definitions" rather than continuing in a way which leaves no doubt of this. There is so much in the book that she did look into to provide rich context, I am surprised this didn't happen.
That's one paragraph however in a lovely book.
July 23, 2022
Interesting biography of Ellen Willmott, one of only two original female VMH holders and superb Horticulturalist. Ran three major gardens after creating them. Unsurprisingly her name is incorporated in many plants in use today. Interesting life and perhaps an unfair reputation. Hopeless with money, brilliant with plants!
September 24, 2022
Willmott is a fascinating character and Lawrence writes her story with great elan. She has such a fun readable style. Will mitt is a tragic figure the greatest tragedy being how much she was forgotten after her death.
June 10, 2025
Undeniably well-researched, this was a book I looked forward to but came away disappointed. The author had to delve into a mountain of rotting correspondence left by Ellen Willmott but sadly, most of the letters are one-sided and almost every aspect of her life is a guessing game. Most annoying to me was the author's constant interjection of her personal thoughts and reflections into the narrative. I did enjoy the first half of the book which covers Willmott's younger years and the creation of her gardens. However, her downward spiral detailing her financial woes was so convoluted and dense, it was hard to follow and most uninteresting.
April 18, 2026
This book took me forever to read, the beginning seemed slow, but once I committed to it it progressed nicely. At first it was hard to figure out why anyone would care about a more or less average woman from the turn of the 19th/20th century. However, as the book progressed it was obvious Eleanor Willmott was anything but "average." She was indeed a "New Woman" who was perhaps brilliant. She was active in the gardening communities, communities that were definitely men's domains, creating world class gardens at her three homes (one in England, two on the continent). In addition, she was a world class photographer, her photographs still not all viewed and catalogued. Eleanor was instrumental in helping to restore the gardens of Hampton Court Palace and Ann Hathoway's cottage in Stratford von Avon (when I could relate to more than just creating hybrid daffodils the book became more interesting). As a "New Woman," one getting involved in domains previously only open to men, Eleanor Willmott was a force with whom to contend. It is because of her strong personality that her legacy is mixed. Her story is also almost lost because Eleanor's is a riches to rags story. Her father worked so hard to lift the family to the aristocracy, she and her sisters lived very well; however, her father did not teach them about money management. Eleanor spent all she had, many times over, and her home and possessions were all sold at auction upon her death, her legacy almost lost. Then, an archivist came across boxes upon boxes of documents and the challenge was on to fill in the gaps and describe in better detail Eleanor's personality. It is unfortunate her home as fallen to ruins as I am sure it was spectacular. It is good that the grounds are being saved as "green space" and it would be wonderful to see it in the spring when all the daffodils are in bloom.
April 19, 2026
Ellen Willmott didn't produce as much written material as her contemporaries, and for this reason, she is not as well known, in spite of her many achievements. Lawrence's biography seeks to change this, and she does succeed fairly well. This book draws heavily on recently discovered Willmott family documents and memorabilia, although the letters obviously only provide one side of the story, since in most cases, Ellen's correspondence is missing.
I appreciated that Lawrence made it clear when she was writing based on fact and when she was indulging in speculation. While some readers may dislike the use of 'probably' and 'perhaps', I would rather see this than have the author presenting their own conclusions as fact. I did find Lawrence's casual style jarred a little with the book's theme - she obviously became very attached to her subject after so many months of study, but I felt that the gossipy, informal writing was a bit at odds with a serious historical biography. I also winced at her dismissive treatment of neurodivergence: "I know very little about definitions, but I'm pretty sure we're all 'somewhere' on the scale." Sloppy, rude and inappropriate - if you don't know enough about the topic to treat it respectfully, a better solution would be to say "I am not qualified to discuss this" - or to ask someone who IS qualified to provide an appendix.
Apart from these issues, this is an interesting and readable biography about one of the great women gardeners of the past. Worth reading by anyone with an interest in gardening history. I hope it will make many more people aware of this talented and complex horticulturalist.
I appreciated that Lawrence made it clear when she was writing based on fact and when she was indulging in speculation. While some readers may dislike the use of 'probably' and 'perhaps', I would rather see this than have the author presenting their own conclusions as fact. I did find Lawrence's casual style jarred a little with the book's theme - she obviously became very attached to her subject after so many months of study, but I felt that the gossipy, informal writing was a bit at odds with a serious historical biography. I also winced at her dismissive treatment of neurodivergence: "I know very little about definitions, but I'm pretty sure we're all 'somewhere' on the scale." Sloppy, rude and inappropriate - if you don't know enough about the topic to treat it respectfully, a better solution would be to say "I am not qualified to discuss this" - or to ask someone who IS qualified to provide an appendix.
Apart from these issues, this is an interesting and readable biography about one of the great women gardeners of the past. Worth reading by anyone with an interest in gardening history. I hope it will make many more people aware of this talented and complex horticulturalist.
October 22, 2024
A seriously brilliant biography. Certainly one of my favourites in recent years. I listened to the audiobook version and the narration was excellent.
My husband is already sick and tired of my excited outbursts about Miss Willmott and her garden (I’ve drawn it out over several weeks too 🤣).
My only criticism is during the concluding chapter, the author addressed the popular speculation that Ellen Willmott was autistic with the rather questionable/ableist/ignorant “I believe everyone is somewhere on the spectrum”. That somewhat soured, for me, what was otherwise a deeply satisfying book. And for the record Ellen Willmott was a walking billboard for neurodivergence. Probably why I love her so much.
My husband is already sick and tired of my excited outbursts about Miss Willmott and her garden (I’ve drawn it out over several weeks too 🤣).
My only criticism is during the concluding chapter, the author addressed the popular speculation that Ellen Willmott was autistic with the rather questionable/ableist/ignorant “I believe everyone is somewhere on the spectrum”. That somewhat soured, for me, what was otherwise a deeply satisfying book. And for the record Ellen Willmott was a walking billboard for neurodivergence. Probably why I love her so much.
June 17, 2024
Excellent except for the incredibly offensive, "I think we're all on the spectrum," at the end where she answers the query if Ellen Willmott was Autistic. Possibly she was but considering all the data presented here and in the Audrey La Lievre book, my vote is squarely in the ADHD camp.
I am not a doctor or certified expert, my only expertise is in being both of those neurotypes (and more) and my lived experience and the research I have done to understand both conditions.
It is my fervent hope that the offensive remark will be removed from future editions and that more neurodivegent gardeners and writers will share their own experiences in the world.
I am not a doctor or certified expert, my only expertise is in being both of those neurotypes (and more) and my lived experience and the research I have done to understand both conditions.
It is my fervent hope that the offensive remark will be removed from future editions and that more neurodivegent gardeners and writers will share their own experiences in the world.
March 6, 2025
I am disappointed in this biography, though well written and researched, there were just not enough facts to justify the author's conclusions. Her conclusions are a good inference but that is all they are. The book was mostly based on one-sided correspondence, diaries and letters rotted just enough to titillate but not enough left to base a story on, and malicious rumors. I believe the reader would have been better served to have this book written as a historical biographical fiction. Miss Ellen Wilmott, for me, will remain rather vindictive, and the reasons for her actions are still a mystery.
July 30, 2023
it is one of those books which left me feeling bereft once I finished it. I now have a much better idea of the real Ellen Willmott, and as a passionate gardener myself, I could feel so much of her passion and pain too, I can even relate to some of her struggles. And what a period of history she lived through, from huge wealth and privilege to the collapse of that way of life as a result of world wars and social change. IT was engagingly written and bought the whole story of victorian and edwardian horticulture to life for me. Loved it.
August 2, 2023
Fascinating
Miss Willmott's Ghosts is a marvellous read. Anyone who loves history and gardening will find something to enjoy in this book. It often feels as though the author is including the reader in her raw research and that we are discovering the extraordinary life and times of Ellen Willmott alongside her as she digs through the dusty old trunks of letters, notebooks and photographs. Absolutely fascinating.
Miss Willmott's Ghosts is a marvellous read. Anyone who loves history and gardening will find something to enjoy in this book. It often feels as though the author is including the reader in her raw research and that we are discovering the extraordinary life and times of Ellen Willmott alongside her as she digs through the dusty old trunks of letters, notebooks and photographs. Absolutely fascinating.
February 15, 2025
A fascinating biography of an amazing woman who dedicated her life to her interests, particularly horticulture, music and spending a fortune.
She is not as well-known as Gertrude Jekyll, but probably influenced British gardening just as much.
This is quite a conversational biography. Ms Lawrence writes as one who knows her subject well, indeed, she has dedicated many years investigating Miss Ellen Willmott.
She is not as well-known as Gertrude Jekyll, but probably influenced British gardening just as much.
This is quite a conversational biography. Ms Lawrence writes as one who knows her subject well, indeed, she has dedicated many years investigating Miss Ellen Willmott.
July 5, 2023
I read this as her gardens weee on my home town and I was curious as to how this respected horticulturalist and gardener had been forgotten.
I listened to the audiobook and found the narrator a bit off putting, but enjoyed Ellen’s life story, and the puzzle of how it was put together. She had a fascinating life. G
I listened to the audiobook and found the narrator a bit off putting, but enjoyed Ellen’s life story, and the puzzle of how it was put together. She had a fascinating life. G
March 28, 2026
I found this book incredibly boring. It was written in a very plodding manner and the only reason I stuck with it is because I know Warley Place. It is heartbreaking to think that all Ellen Willmott's efforts in cultivating the gardens were swept away so quickly. Nettles, brambles, sycamores will triumph in the end. (Although this is obviously preferable to a property developer triumphing.)
June 26, 2022
A charming and funny account of a fascinating life.
March 24, 2023
Wonderful book. At first I was unsure whether it would be dry but Miss Wilmott's life was a wonderful read 🌸
January 24, 2024
interesting read
I belong to a book club, and miss willmott,s ghost was this month read. We will discuss the book next month. Look forward to it,
I belong to a book club, and miss willmott,s ghost was this month read. We will discuss the book next month. Look forward to it,
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews