Marion Dulles
Greenhouse Gardening Around the Year
When I mentioned to some garden-writing friends that the next Lost Lady of Garden Writing was Marion Dulles, the first question they asked was, “Of the Dulles family?” Yes, of the Dulles family, which included her husband, Foster Rhea Dulles, who was a history professor at The Ohio State University; his cousin Allen W. Dulles, who was a former head of the CIA; another cousin John Foster Dulles, who was a former senator and Secretary of State, for whom Dulles International Airport is named after; and John Foster Dulles’s son, Avery Dulles, who converted to Catholicism, became a Jesuit priest, and later became a Cardinal.
With that bit of family history out of the way, let’s get back to Marion, her gardening, and her garden writing.
Marion’s Biography
Marion was born Marion Richardson on April 2, 1903, in Brooklyn, New York. According to the 1910 census records, she and her parents and a younger brother moved to Bridgewater, New Jersey, before 1910. Her father’s occupation was listed as “special agent” in the advertising industry.
Thanks to a wedding announcement that appeared in the paper in August 1926, we know Marion attended Boston University for a short time.
Beginning in 1941, Marion and her husband lived in the Columbus, Ohio, area while he was a history professor at The Ohio State University. There they raised four daughters and Marion gardened and wrote about gardening. Later, they retired to Vermont.
Marion died in 1990.
Many Talents
Marion and her husband traveled quite a bit, based on Ancestry records showing records of their travels to various countries.
Per her obituary, she was also an avid birder and a potter, in addition to being a writer.
I found a little snippet from a Princeton alumni newsletter noting someone saw her artwork and that of her husband at an exhibit in Vermont.
Her Garden Writing
I found out about Marion’s gardening book when I read an article about it written by Bea Jones. Of course, I recognized the name! I then found a good used copy of her book, Greenhouse Gardening Around the Year (1956).
I can tell from Marion’s own description of her greenhouse that the greenhouse on the cover of the book is most certainly her greenhouse. She organized the book by months, beginning in September and ending in August.
On the front flap, the editor wrote,
“Marion Dulles presents pertinent information in a sprightly style. This book is both a daily guide and a year-round inspiration for those who want to start a greenhouse and for those who want to improve upon their own.”
One example of that sprightly style:
If there is a pleasure for the greenhouse gardener in merely walking through other houses, it is very seldom that there is not profit as well. No other interest or hobby or profession that I can think of is more likely to be beneficially shared.
She then goes on to talk about learning some tips and secrets from others in her travels. But, hmmm, she left out the actual tips and secrets. Perhaps they are buried elsewhere in her book?
On the back flap of her book, someone wrote that “Marion Dulles is well known in gardening circles” because of the articles she had written for leading gardening periodicals.
I couldn’t find any of the articles she wrote in online archives, nor did I find any in my complete set of Horticulture magazines from 1959. But I did find many other potential Lost Ladies of Garden Writing waiting for me to do some research on them and bring them to light here.
But before we leave Marion and go in search of more Lost Ladies of Garden Writing, here’s one more quote, which is from her chapter on March.
In March, however, the greenhouse becomes a part of the natural world again. Plants suddenly make new growth; buds appear overnight on the tender spring bulbs, annuals sprawl all over the benches. In fact, almost every plant in the greenhouse seems to feel the same stir that moves in the outdoor earth.” - Marion Dulles
We are feeling that stir ourselves now, just as Marion and so many other gardeners have in the past.
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!
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I’ll return with the next Lost Lady of Garden Writing article in two weeks, on March 19th. 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.