Irma Franzen-Heinrichsdorff

April 26, 2017
On this day, The Cultural Landscape Foundation featured a new post about the German-born landscape architect, Irma Franzen-Heinrichsdorff.

In 1913, Irma attended the Elmwood School of Gardening. In the 1980s, Irma recounted the experience in ten handwritten pages. Here's an excerpt:

"At 10:15 we went outside and did the currently necessary work in the fruit, vegetable or flower garden.

Every kind of vegetable was cultivated.
Countless flowers were multiplied through seeds, cuttings, etc. to be sold in the spring or fall.

The morning hours passed quickly.

At 1 o'clock we stopped work.

At 1:30 we had lunch, and at 2:30 we went back to work until 4:30.

We then drank tea and at 7 o'clock we appeared in festive evening dress for dinner.

In the summer we had the same hours of work except for an extra hour in our greenhouse from 7 to 8 o'clock to water and spray our thirsty plants.

But I must add, even if it means praising ourselves, that we did not content ourselves with the times I indicated.

We were often found in the garden at 6 o'clock if not at 5 o'clock or even earlier.

Also in the evenings we preferred to be active outside.

Miss Wheeler had never had students as eager as we were."