Born in 1858 to a wealthy family Ellen Willmott owned three gardens, in England, France and Italy, and employed one hundred and four gardeners. She mixed with royalty and her name was associated with the greatest gardeners of her time, Gertrude Jekyll, William Robinson and E. A. Bowles.
In 1894 she joined the Royal Horticultural Society and in 1897 she was one of the first sixty recipients (and on...