Elizabeth Fox: The Baroness Who Brought Dahlias to Britain
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
November 16, 1845
On this day, dear readers, we bid farewell to a most remarkable woman, Elizabeth Fox, Baroness Holland, whose life bloomed as vibrantly as the flowers she so adored.
A political hostess of renown and a true devotee of the floral arts, her passing marks the end of an era in both social and horticultural circles.
Picture, if you will, a young Elizabeth at the tender age of 15, wed to Sir Godfrey Webster, a man two decades her senior. In a whirlwind of domesticity, she bore five children in six years - a feat as impressive as any gardener coaxing stubborn seeds to life.
Yet, like a climbing rose seeking the sun, Elizabeth's heart yearned for more. It found its trellis in Henry Fox, the 3rd Baron Holland, a Whig politician who captured her affections.
Their passionate affair bore fruit - quite literally - leading to a scandalous divorce from Sir Godfrey and a swift marriage to Mr. Fox. Together, they cultivated a family of six more children, proving that Elizabeth's nurturing spirit knew no bounds.
Known for her indomitable will and commanding presence, Elizabeth was a force of nature in London's social landscape. But it is in the annals of garden history that her legacy truly flourishes.
For it was Elizabeth, dear readers, who introduced the resplendent Dahlia to English soil.
Imagine, if you will, the sun-drenched gardens of Madrid in 1804. There, amidst the Royal Botanic Gardens, Elizabeth received a most precious gift from the esteemed botanist Antonio José Cavanilles - seeds of the Dahlia pinnata.
With the care of a devoted gardener, she nurtured these tiny promises of beauty in the gardens of Holland House, forever changing the face of English horticulture.
Twenty years hence, her beloved Henry, swelling with pride at his wife's horticultural triumph, penned these words of devotion:
The dahlia you brought to our isle
Your praises forever shall speak;
'Mid gardens as sweet as your smile,
And in color as bright as your cheek.
As we tend our own gardens, let us remember Elizabeth Fox, Baroness Holland.
May her spirit inspire us to seek beauty in unexpected places, to nurture growth with passion, and to leave a legacy as colorful and enduring as the dahlias she bestowed upon our green and pleasant land.
