Helena Rutherfurd Ely

Helena Rutherfurd Ely (born Helena Rutherfurd: September 28, 1858 – May 18, 1920) was an American amateur gardener, founding member of the Garden Club of America, and writer, whose three books influenced American and British gardeners to avoid Victorian formal gardens in favor of plantings that embodied an "informal and sensual style." She focused on planning her gardens around planting "hardy perennial plants found in the agricultural landscape." Biography Helena Rutherfurd was born on September 28, 1858. Helena was the one of five children from the marriage of Charlotte Livingston (1825–1894) and John Rutherfurd (1810–1871), a coal and railroad industry executive, and president of the Board of Proprietors for East New Jersey and the New Jersey Historical Society. At Meadowburn, Ely created formal and cottage gardens on five acres of the estate's grounds which served as the basis for a series of three books on gardening in which she favored perennials.