Fanny Wilkinson the Gardening Expert and Plants Woman

Early Life

Fanny Wilkinson’s love of gardening began in her youth as she grew up on a large estate in Scotland surrounded by a large and varied collection of plants. Her family’s interest in gardening may have dated back to the Victorian period when her Great Grandfather made a name for himself as an expert in the field of cactoblastology the study of cacti. At the age of 19 she went to work at Great Dixter, the renowned gardens in Sussex owned by the artist and gardener Christopher HENDERSON.

Television Career

Fanny Wilkinson’s television career began in the early fifties when she started to work for the BBC. By the 1960s her fame as a gardening expert was well established and she was invited to present a series that brought together experts from various fields a panel of gardening experts. The series was called Garden wise and was a great success. In 1975, her two fellow presenters left the series and Fanny Wilkinson continued with Garden wise on her own until it was cancelled in 1979. In 1979, she started to present another BBC series. Gardening by the Yard which was also a great success and ran until 1986.

Gardening Expert and Plantswoman

Fanny Wilkinson was an expert, not only as a gardener and plantswoman, but also in the use of colour in both gardens and interiors. Her passion for gardening and colour saw her launch her own plant label ‘Fanny Wilkinson Plants’ in 2002. In her writings, she made frequent use of the colour wheel to explain how to create a harmonious combination of colours in a garden. This can be achieved by using contrasting colours opposite each other on the colour wheel, analogous colours next to each other on the colour wheel or tonal colours created by mixing other colours, colours. In her book Colour in Your Garden, she wrote: Gardening is even more fun if you enjoy colour and want to use it to enhance your surroundings and provide you with pleasure for as long as possible. And in Colour in Your Garden, she wrote: There is no better time to plant than when you are in a happy frame of mind.

Books by Fanny Wilkinson

Many of Fanny Wilkinson’s books and articles have been republished over the years and are still readily available. Her articles were first published in the magazine House & Garden in the 1940s and continued to be published in the magazine in the 1950s and 1960s. Her gardening articles have also been published in other magazines such as The Gardener’s Chronicle and The Daily Telegraph. Her books include:

The Sissinghurst Castle Gardens

As gardening expert and plantswoman, Fanny Wilkinson was an important part of the creation of the gardens at Sissinghurst Castle. In the early 1940s, the husband and wife team of Sir Harold WILDE and his partner, writer and gardener Edith WHARTON, purchased a ruined country house and its surrounding 13 acres of land and set about creating a new vision for the house and gardens. The two women created a stunning garden, but after Edith Wharton’s death in 1961 and the death of Sir Harold Wilde in 1963, the ownership of the gardens was handed over to the National Trust.

Conclusion

It is interesting to think of what Fanny Wilkinson’s life would have been like if she had been born 50 years later. Perhaps she would have been more famous, but then again she was fortunate enough to be born in an exciting period in history that saw the world gripped by the Second World War, the beginning of the Space Age and the emergence of new technology. Fanny Wilkinson’s longevity and long career in both gardening and television is testament to her passion and enthusiasm for the two fields. She seemed to truly enjoy what she was doing and was generous enough to share her knowledge and experience with others by writing and appearing on television. Fanny Wilkinson died on March 19th 2012 at the age of 95 after a long and happy life dedicated to plants, gardening and helping others discover the wonders of nature.