Lucky Clover

She is known as 'the Elvis of gardening' and one the world's greatest horticulturists - male or female! - but when Gertrude Jekyll started her career in the 19th century, successful female gardeners were as rare as four-leaf clovers.

She is known as 'the Elvis of gardening' and one the world's greatest horticulturists - male or female! - but when Gertrude Jekyll started her career in the 19th century, successful female gardeners were as rare as four-leaf clovers.

On top of that, the middle-aged British rose was steadily losing her eyesight. Still, nothing could stop Gertrude from pursuing her dreams. After all, isn't gardening itself an exercise in optimism? You plant a seed, nurture it with water and love, and hope for a lucky clover. And sometimes, hope is all you have. Like the WW1 soldiers who planted not just vegetables to eat but also flowers in the trenches, showed: gardening is a radical act of faith and hope.

And so, Gertrude Jekyll worked around her visual handicap to create a unique gardening style. For example, since distant views were a blur to her, Gertrude focused on details and textural delights. She planted flowers in mass, so they would appear to her as gorgeous washes of color in an Impressionist painting. Some say that when Adam and Eve were leaving the Garden of Eden, Eve plucked a four-leafed clover as a souvenir of paradise and a sparkle of hope.

Passing on this lucky clover to many generations of female gardeners - and anyone who could use some hope! - is perhaps Gertrude Jekyll's greatest legacy.