Helen K. Krauss
Geraniums, Begonias, and Seashells
I wish I had an interesting story to tell about how I discovered Helen K. Krauss, today’s Lost Lady of Garden Writing. But truthfully, I found her the same way I’ve found a few other writers, by reading gardening sections in old newspapers.
No, I don’t sit down, open up a website, and just start looking through old newspaper archives. Instead, I usually go in search of someone in particular and then notice a little column written by or about another garden writer on the same page. I then add the name of the new-to-me author to my growing list of Lost Ladies of Garden Writing, and as time permits, go online to search for more information about her.
My search for Helen K. Krauss turned up three books. We’ll get to them in a bit, but first, we need to know more about Helen.
Her Biography
Helen was born in Germany on October 8, 1887 and came to the United States with her parents, Peter and Margerita Knoll in 1892. All the early records of our Helen show her first name as Lena, and somewhere, someone added a note that her middle name was Katherine. By the 1930 census records, she was married to Lee Krauss. Though I don’t think it matters for our purposes, I think Lee was her second husband. I don’t know what happened to her first husband, William Hall, but that is too common of a name for me to do much research on without making a wrong turn somewhere.
I also don’t know how or why she went from Lena to Helen, but all the dates, etc. line up to assure me that I have the right person.
An article in the Winston-Salem Journal from November 20, 1955, provides more biographical information.
She died on August 17, 1976, in Texas, but was buried near her home in Pennsylvania. Her obituary listed a son, Lee, and two granddaughters.
Her Philanthropy
Reading more about Helen in various newspapers, I discovered information about some of her philanthropic efforts.
From her obituary, I also learned that she organized an auxiliary for the Woman’s Medical College in Philadelphia. In a 1959 article about her seashell flowers, they wrote she had pledged $10,000 (a little more than $100,000 in today’s dollars) to the auxiliary, which she raised by selling her seashell flower arrangements. One of the arrangements was purchased by Mrs. John B. Kelly, who was planning to give it to her daughter, Princess Grace of Monaco.1
Earlier in 1951, she donated her entire collection of reference books on begonias to the Los Angeles State and County Arboretum at Arcadia.
Her Books
Helen wrote three gardening-related books.
Her first book was Begonias for American Home and Gardens (The Macmillan Co., 1947). As noted on the front flap,
“To fill a long-felt need, Mrs. Krauss, Director of the American Begonia Society Research and Nomenclature Department, has written the definitive book on the subject.”
About two-thirds of the book describes all the begonias available to grow, and the other one-third is about the culture of begonias.
I would guess that many of the begonia varieties and hybrids Helen described in 1947 are no longer available. Old varieties of begonias are often pushed out of the trade as new, better varieties come along. I discovered this a while back when searching for a begonia called “gloire de lorraine” without success after reading about it in a book written by Buckner Hollingsworth.
Helen describes this particular begonia in considerable detail in her book, and has actually given me the botanical name of Begonia cheimantha which, per Helen:
“was provided as a group name by Mr. T. H. Everett of the New York Botanical Garden in 1940 for the derivatives of B. socotrana crossed with B. dregei, including B. c. gloire de lorraine which was the first hybrid of this cross. These are commonly known as “Christmas” begonias and also as the B. c. gloire de lorraine series.”
With that additional information, I might come closer to finding a similar begonia, if not the exact variety I’m seeking.
Helen’s second book was Geraniums for Home and Garden (The Macmillan Co., 1955). With what seems to be the same enthusiasm she showed for begonias, Helen thoroughly covers geraniums (pelargoniums). Even her travels took her to see native pelargoniums growing in the wild in South Africa. As with the begonia book, the cultural information mostly stands the test of time, but I would guess many of the geranium varieties she lists—and she lists hundreds—are no longer available. So, I plan to read accordingly and not get too excited about a particular variety. Otherwise, I might find myself in the depths of a fruitless (flowerless) search again.
Helen’s third book, Shell Art: A Handbook for Making Shell Flowers, Mosaics, Jewelry, and Other Ornaments, was first published in 1965 by Hearthside Press and then re-published in 1976 by Dover Press. Helen starts the book with the story of seashells, describes types of seashells and how to find them, and then provides details on how to use them to make shell flowers.
As with begonias and geraniums, Helen seems to be “all in” with her shell flowers, as noted in this clip from a newspaper article in 1959.
What Shall We Remember Helen For?
After reading about Helen and her books, I think I’ll best remember her for her passionate interest and ability to dive deep and cover thoroughly whatever subject fascinated her at the time, be it begonias, geraniums, or seashells.
I’ll also wonder how she accomplished so much. In addition to founding the auxiliary for the Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia, and writing three in-depth books on different subjects, I also found snippets about her being a secretary in 1919, a lifetime member of the New York Botanical Garden, and president of her husband’s company, a building supply company, after his death.
I suspect Helen also wrote a few articles along the way, but I couldn’t find them in my usual sources because most of the online search results are about her books.
I’ve enjoyed meeting Helen and acquiring “good used copies” of her geranium book and her begonia book. I didn’t buy her seashell book because I don’t often go to beaches in search of seashells, but it’s readily available to read online, in the usual places where books are digitized, plus good used copies are out there.
I hope you have also enjoyed this brief glimpse into the life of another Lost Lady of Garden Writing. If you’ve heard of Helen K. Krauss or know more about her, let me know via a comment or email.
Do you know of other women authors of gardening-related books that I should research as Lost Ladies of Garden Writing? Send them my way via a comment or email!
And if you find these articles interesting and think others will, too, please share them and subscribe.
I’ll return with the next Lost Lady of Garden Writing article in two weeks, on April 3rd. In the meantime, you can find me in several other places online: my website and blog, The Gardenangelists podcast, and my weekly newsletter, In the Garden With Carol.
Of course, I went in search of some of Helen’s shell flowers on the internet. I haven’t found any yet, but I did discover that Princess Grace of Monaco wrote a book with Gwen Robyns titled My Book of Flowers (1982). I looked through a digitized copy but didn’t find Helen or “seashells” in the index.
I love that you are telling stories we've never heard before! Thank you!
Interesting!