Pretty Maids: Thirty Remarkable Women and the Flowers Named After Them

Some years ago, Mari Griffith bought a lovely, fresh-scented apricot floribunda rose from the Harkness Nursery. It was called Caron Keating in memory of the young Blue Peter presenter who lost her life to breast cancer at the early age of 41. This set Mari thinking about other flowers which have been named after women, and the list proved fascinating. It included a camellia named after the operatic diva Adelina Patti and a pelargonium after the actress Beryl Reid. There’s an aquilegia named in memory of the distinguished geneticist Nora Barlow, a peony for the extrovert actress Sarah Bernhardt, and a climbing fuchsia for the shy, retiring Lady Boothby. These very different women are from all walks of life but each one deserves to be paid this fragrant and colorful compliment. This unique book describes both the lives of the women and the beauty of the flowers dedicated to them. Thirty Pretty Maids are featured, with biographies of each illustrated with photographs and paintings. Complementing each maid is a photograph of the eponymous flower as well as horticultural notes on how to grow it to the best advantage.