Gertrude Jekyll 125
of the most important points in the arrangement of a garden is the placing of
the fl owers with regard to their colour-eff ect, and it is one that has been greatly
neglected’.^51 Although Jekyll does not blatantly use Robinson’s phrase, ‘laws of
colour’, or ‘colour-law’ as she describes it in ‘Th e Flower-Border and Pergola’
chapter of Wood and Garden, she is clearly referring to colour theory here. Jekyll
was aware that her artistic training was unusual in horticulture, yet she seemed
more confi dent in promoting its value in garden design and the knowledge it
provided to the thoughtful and artistic garden designer.^52
Th is confi dent promotion demonstrates that Jekyll equated a large element
of her design success to her art training. In the preface to Francis King’s book,
the founder of the Garden Club of America, Jekyll writes:
What is needed for doing the best gardening is something of an artist’s training, or at
any rate the possession of such a degree of aptitude – the God-given artist’s gift – as
with due training may make an artist; for gardening , in its best expression, may well
rank as one of the fi ne arts. But without the many years of labour needed for any hope
of success in architecture, sculpture, or painting, there are certain simple rules, whose
observance, carried out in horticulture, will make all the diff erence between a garden
that is utterly commonplace and one that is full of beauty and absorbing interest. Of
these, one of the chief is a careful consideration of colour arrangement.^53Amateur artistic training was a common addition to middle-class women’s edu-
cation. Although Jekyll received formal training from the South Kensington
School of Art, her application of art to gardening connected her with her female
readers, many of whom, like Jekyll, had from a young age dabbled in art and
fl ower gardening in accordance with contemporaneous practices of middle-class
female education. Her promotion of its importance is oft en central to Jekyll’s
writing and her passion for colour arrangement is, at times, conveyed in a tone
equal to the boldness of Robinson’s. And it is perhaps her recognition of this
female identifi cation that strengthened her voice on this topic. Not only was col-
our theory in garden design what ultimately gave her a lasting reputation in the
fi eld, it was also a method for Jekyll to promote women’s entrance into garden
design by combining two established feminine activities.
Indeed, her opinions on colour theory in gardening were so strong that she
criticized those who disagreed with its importance. In an article from 1885 entitled
‘Colour in Flowers; To the Editor of “Th e Garden”’, Jekyll replies to a letter from
a reader who challenged her admiration of Chinodoxa sardensis. Clearly sensitive
about the issue, she writes: ‘I think there can be no two opinions as to [its] beauty.’
She continues by addressing his criticism of Iris tuberosa, which he calls ‘a “dull-
coloured” [underlined], “ugly curiosity” [doubly underlined]’.^54 Jekyll emphasizes
the importance of artistic training , belittling his ability to appreciate the fl ower
based on the likelihood that he does not share the same education she does.