Louisa Wylie Boisen

Louisa Wylie Boisen tending her garden in 1912.

Rebecca and Emma set the stage for Louisa Wylie Boisen’s passion for horticulture. Working alongside her mother and aunt, Louisa raised her own plants and solidified her reputation in the greater horticultural community. 

Of the women in her family she is the only one to become a member of the Indiana Horticultural Society. Louisa was one of the first female members of the society. Women were welcome to attend meetings even at the very beginnings of the society, but like most horticultural societies in America, women were not made equal members of the society until well after the Civil War. One member, W.H. Ragan recalls his parents attending the first meeting of the society. He recalls:

 “In August, 1840, I saw my father and mother, each well mounted, he with saddlebags filled to their uttermost capacity, and she with a good-sized bag swinging from the horn of her saddle…They had attended the first meeting of the Indiana Horticultural Society”(W.H. Ragan “The First Indiana Horticultural Society” The Indiana Quarterly Magazine of History, Vol. 4, No.2 (June, 1908), pp. 71-79) .

 Even so, Ragan goes on to list the members of the organization prior to 1866 and no women are listed. 

By the time Louisa became active in the society in 1891, many women are listed as members, in fact, the wives of members were granted membership at no cost. Louisa did not stop at mere membership within the organization. The 1891 summer meeting was held in Bloomington on August 13th and 14th.  Louisa and Wylie House both played a role in the meetings festivities. Louisa presented the paper “Flowers A Home Educator” in the Friday morning session of the meeting. In the evening of that day, Louisa was awarded a medal by the committee on fruits as an individual presenter. After the rewards were given, the entire meeting was invited back to Wylie House to see one of Louisa’s plants, a night blooming cereus. This was not the last time this plant was on display. In 1894, a newspaper article details how almost a hundred people came out to Wylie House to view this same flower. The plant is described in the article as: 

“…a species of cactus of which Mrs. Boisen has a collection of 150 different kinds...The four blooms on this plant were about ten inches in diameter, with white petals and yellow stamens. It is seventeen years old and bloomed four times in the past seven years. These plants are very valuable, costing from $75 to $100 each”( The Indiana State sentinel, (Indianapolis), 01 Aug. 1894. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87056600/1894-08-01/ed-1/seq-10/).  

After the meeting in Bloomington, Louisa became a full member of the Indiana Horticultural Society for the 1892-1893 year. It does not seem that she continued membership after that term.