Jane Webb Loudon

Calochortus and Cyclobothera: 1 Calochortus Macrocarpus, 2 C. Venustus, 3 C. Splendus, 4 C. Luteus, 5 Cyclobothera Barbata, 6 Cyc. Alba, and 7 Cyc. Pulcella.

Jane Loudon nee Webb was born into a wealthy Birmingham family at the beginning of the 19th century. Educated and well-travelled she suddenly found herself penniless at seventeen after her father’s business failures and untimely death. A gifted writer she sought to improve her fortune by publishing anonymously The Mummy, a Tale of the Twenty-Second Century, influenced in part by Mary Shelly’s recently published Frankenstein. The Mummy would become a pioneer not only of the ‘mummy’ genre but also of science fiction with her tale including space travel, technological advances and even ladies in trousers. The Mummy also brought her to the attention of the literary enthusiast and landscape gardener John Loudon whom she married shortly thereafter.

Loudon frequently accompanied her husband on journeys connected with his profession as a landscape gardener, eventually becoming his artistic assistant. The production of his Arbortem et Fruticem Britannicum resulted in substantial debt but this led Loudon to begin producing her own works. Loudon recognised the lack of gardening manuals aimed at the ordinary gardener, and specifically the lady gardener. With the assistance of prominent horticulturist John Linley she produced a number of works the most successful of which was The Ladies Companion to the Flower Garden.

In her works she typically displayed her flowers in bouquets to reflect their ornamental rather than scientific value emphasising a good eye for colour and arrangement that would appeal to her growing following. Although Loudon died in 1858 destitute having never quite recovered from her husband’s debts or his early death, her works continued to be reissued for decades in testament to their enduring appeal. Decorative yet practical and entirely accessible, Loudon’s influence on shaping and popularising gardening in the Victorian era cannot be overstated.