Helen Van Pelt Wilson (October 19, 1901 – September 30, 2003) was a twentieth-century American garden writer.

Early life

Helen Van Pelt Wilson was born in Collingswood, New Jersey and grew up in

Moorestown Township, New Jersey Moorestown is a township in Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia and geographically part of the South Jersey region of the state. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was ...

, attending the

Shipley School , motto_translation = Courage for the deed; Grace for the doing , address = 814 Yarrow Street , location = , region = , city = Bryn Mawr , county = , st ...

to prepare for

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...

. She graduated cum laude from Bryn Mawr in 1923. Wilson taught

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and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

at Mount Holly High School for one year, and in 1924 married Arthur Collins, Jr. She created her first garden at their home in Moorestown.

Writing career

Wilson began writing about houseplants and gardens for the '' Philadelphia Record''. For ''

Parents Magazine ''Parents'' was an American monthly magazine founded in 1926 that featured scientific information on child development geared to help parents in raising their children. Subscribers were notified of the magazine’s dissolution via a postcard maili ...

'', she wrote about education, marriage and parenting. Over the course of her writing career, Helen Wilson contributed to ''

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'', ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Hous ...

'', ''

Scribner's Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...

'', ''

House Beautiful ''House Beautiful'' is an interior decorating magazine that focuses on decorating and the domestic arts. First published in 1896, it is currently published by the Hearst Corporation, who began publishing it in 1934. It is the oldest still-publi ...

'', '' House and Garden'', ''Flower Grower'', and '' Better Homes and Gardens''. Wilson collaborated with ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Garden Editor Dorothy Jenkins in 1942 on her second book on houseplants. She became an executive editor for nonfiction books at M. Barrows and Company in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, specializing in gardening books. She also worked as an editor for Morrow, D. Van Nostrand, and Hawthorn Books. Wilson also wrote many books of her own. Among the most well-known are ''Perennials Preferred'', ''Joy of Geraniums'', ''The Fragrant Year'', with Leonie Bell, ''Houseplants are for Pleasure'', and ''Successful Gardening in the Shade''. Perhaps her most famous book was ''The African Violet'', published in 1948. Wilson wrote a book about her own garden at Stony Brook Cottage in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

in 1973, ''Helen Van Pelt Wilson's Own Garden and Landscape Book.'' In 1978, she published her twentieth book, ''Color for Your Winter Yard and Garden''. She wrote, "Apparently I am the last friend that winter has; it is the season I most enjoy." In addition to her many books and articles, Wilson compiled ''The Garden Calendar'' and ''The Flower Arrangement Calendar'' for twenty years. She also compiled two books of poetry, ''The Gardener's Book of Verses'' and ''Joyful Thoughts for Five Seasons''.

Death

Helen Van Pelt Wilson died in

Wilton, Connecticut Wilton is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 18,503. In 2017, it was the sixth-wealthiest town per capita in Connecticut, the wealthiest U.S. state per capita. Officially reco ...

, on September 30, 2003. She was buried in Colestown Cemetery in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. At the time of her death, Wilson had one daughter, Cynthia, two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.Bryn Mawr College Alumni Association

Legacy

Helen Wilson was listed in ''Who's Who of American Women'' and ''Foremost Women in Communications''. She was a fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain and a recipient of a Bronze Medal Award from the African Violet Society of America. Th
Library of Congress
lists 51 books written or edited by Helen Van Pelt Wilson. Several of the books were updated and multiple editions exist of some titles.

Books written

Books written, compiled, or co-authored by Helen Van Pelt Wilson include: * Helen Van Pelt Wilson's Own Garden and Landscape Book * The Joy of Geraniums * Successful gardening with perennials: How to select and grow more than 500 kinds for today's yard & garden * Houseplants are for pleasure;: How to grow healthy plants for home decoration * Flowers, space, and motion: New designs in hanging flower arrangements * Houseplants for every window * Successful Gardening in the Shade * Color for Your Winter Yard & Garden With Flowers, Berries, Birds, and Trees * Joyful Thoughts for Five Seasons, with Lydia Rosier * The African Violet, with Leonie Hagerty * Helen Van Pelt Wilson's African-violet book * The Joy of Flower Arranging * Perennials preferred, with Kathleen Voute * The Fragrant Year, Scented Plants for Your Garden and Your House, with Leonie Bell * African Violet and Generiad Questions-Answered By 20 Experts, Editor HVP Wilson * Poems for Five Seasons (The Gardener's Book of Verse, Volume One) Editor HVP Wilson * Geraniums Pelargoniums * The Flower Arrangement Calendar * Gloxinias And How To Grow Them by Peggie Schulz, Helen Van Pelt Wilson and A. H. Buell * Flower arrangement designs for today * A Garden in the House

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Helen Van Pelt 1901 births 2003 deaths American centenarians American garden writers Writers from New Jersey Bryn Mawr College alumni People from Collingswood, New Jersey People from Moorestown, New Jersey Burials at Colestown Cemetery (Cherry Hill, New Jersey) Women centenarians Shipley School alumni