‘Lady Guardians’ of the Royal Society of Horticulture of Portugal, 1898–1906

In the second half of the nineteenth century gardening flourished in Portugal’s public sphere, having considerably expanded beyond the private realms of palaces and villas. Envisioned as a sophisticated branch of knowledge, horticulture became a hub for citizen science, commercial activities, public education, and civic events. This was a context that fostered and advanced women’s involvement and status as gardeners, horticulturists, and educators, a development influenced by popular Portuguese perceptions of women as protectors. The Royal Society of Horticulture of Portugal (founded in Lisbon as “National” in 1898, decreed “Royal” in 1900), instantiated this enmeshment of perception with status by designating women members as ‘Lady Guardians’ while promoting their participation, especially as competitors and jurists in the society’s flower exhibitions. The women of the society offer a window into the more general identities and professional statuses of women horticulturalists as ‘guardians’ in a generalized sense: they included landowners, writers, gardeners, and family business owners, with many assuming greater responsibility in widowhood. At a time when women’s participation in science was highly constricted, horticulture as a field, and the Royal Society of Horticulture as its premier institution, constituted a remarkable opportunity for women to be publicly engaged and recognized for their expertise as amateur botanists alongside their male counterparts. This article’s analysis demonstrates that women horticulturalists in Portugal were a quite heterogenous group, consisting of women from the highest ranks of the nobility, participating alongside women from further social ranks, inclusive of the aristocracy, bourgeoisie, and urban middle classes. Their participation in the society not only afforded them opportunities locally and civically, but also internationally, as will be illustrated by a few careers that reflect how education, travels, and professional engagement demonstrated the broad reach of Portuguese women’s horticultural activities.