Cultivators: Theodosia Burr Shepherd

Theodosia Burr Shepherd (1845-1906) was an American botanist, horticulturist, and pioneer in plant breeding known as the “Flower Wizard of California”. She is known for developing new varieties of flowers including cosmos, poppies, and begonias. The most famous being the ‘Heavenly Blue’ morning glory, and the ‘Golden West’ California Poppy. 

For Further Reading:

• Ventura County Historical Society Quarterly Vol. 7-9: Theodosia Burr Shepherd, California’s Premiere Floriculturist
• Times Leader (Pennsylvania): ‘Women Who Do Things: Theodosia Burr Shepherd’

This month, we’re talking about cultivators — women who nurtured, cross-pollinated, experimented, or went to great lengths to better understand and protect the natural world.

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Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello. I'm Brittany Martinez, a senior producer at Wonder Media Network,
and I'm one of the co curators for this month.
I am so excited to be guest hosting this episode
of Amanica. This month, we're talking about cultivators, women who nurtured,
cross pollinated, experimented, or went to great lengths to better
understand and protect the natural world. Today, we're talking about

(00:27):
a horticultural pioneer who not only hybridized countless flowers, but
established a business that laid the foundation of California seed industry,
earning her the title of the Flower Wizard of California.
Let's talk about Theodoja Burr Shepherd. Theodosia was born October fourteenth,
eighteen forty five, in southeastern Iowa. While little is known

(00:49):
about her early life, one thing is clear. She battled
chronic illness. She suffered from tuberculosis or lung trouble as
it was called back then. Sometime in her early twenties,
she met and married lawyer William Edgar Shepherd, and together
they had four children. But as Theodosia's health worsened, the
family decided to pack their bags and move to California.

(01:11):
Hoping that the new climate would ease her pain. In
eighteen seventy three, the family settled in Ventura, California, and
the difference in scenery had Theodosia in awe. She had
grown up in a landlocked state with prairie like planes.
Now she was living on the coast, basking in the sunshine,

(01:33):
wading in the ocean, and surrounded by a diverse community
of flora and fauna. She soon took up gardening as
a hobby. She began observing growing patterns, variation, and flower
from color to size, and more importantly, the phenomenon of
cross pollination. Though she was discovering this new world, the

(01:53):
realities of her family situation were never far from her mind.
With four children to feed and clothe, Aidja knew she
had to make something shake. That opportunity came in the
winter of eighteen eighty one. For Christmas, the children received
a year subscription to Harper's Young People magazine, and in

(02:15):
the back pages was an exchange column. Here people can
advertise items to trade. One day, Theodosia noticed that the
column was not just for kids. Adults were trading items too,
and the thought struck her, what if she could trade
her plants for things that they didn't have. Not waiting

(02:36):
a moment more, Theodosia placed an ad offering to exchange
California bulbs and seeds in exchange for small luxuries. The
response was overwhelming. Novelties from the West coast were in
high demand for people out east. Suddenly Theodosia was receiving
letters for kalalily bulbs, smile Ax bulbs, and Pampas plumes.
Her stock sold out quickly. This success inspired her to

(03:00):
reach out to other prominent seed sellers. She had studied
their catalogs, marveling over the plants she hoped to one
day grow herself. She reached out to Peter Henderson, a
successful market gardener and seedsman. She believed he would appreciate
what she had to offer. Carefully, Theodosia picked her best seeds,
packaged them up, and sent them with a letter requesting

(03:22):
seeds from his catalog in exchange. What she got back
after several weeks was a generous helping of seeds and
a note that read, I am certain that California, before
fifty years will have passed, will be the greatest seed
and bulk growing country in the world, I advise you,
if possible, to get in the business at once. Needless
to say, she took that golden advice and cashed it in. First,

(03:45):
she had to create a setup to house and grow
more plants. Theodosa got creative. She used a hollowed up
piano box to control the growth of her seedlings. Her
first seeds were sewn in cigar boxes and her plants
grew in tin cans with the rims mills it off
with the help of her husband. Theodoso acquired alone to
buy the two acres surrounding their house to expand their nursery,

(04:07):
and she officially established the Theodosia B. Shepherd Company, complete
with her very own retail catalog. Theodosia was lauded as
a hybridizer of blossoms and originator of new flowers. In
her plants, she would search for unique standouts, maybe one
had a darker coloring or larger petals. Theodosa would then
take a small brush, gently collecting the pollen from one

(04:29):
of these flowers and deposit it on the pistol of another.
What bloomed the following season would be something new and glorious.
Through this process, she was able to develop the striking
heavenly blue morning glory and the iconic golden West California poppy.
But her list goes on. She cultivated cosmos in an
array of colors, even producing larger flowers with broader petals.

(04:54):
She lovingly called them Missus Shepherd's rainbow cosmos, and the
same treatment was given to pop petunias and her personal
favorite pogonias. This not only made her catalog sparkle, but
also transformed her property into a plural wonderland. By the
eighteen nineties, she had multiple investors, her bulbs and seeds

(05:16):
had reached Europe, and her flowers had made their way
to the Chicago World's Fair. However, Theodosia wouldn't fully see
the fruits of her labor. Despite her fame, financial success
did not follow. In short, the family wasn't poor, but
they also weren't rich. Then her health deteriorated. Soon she

(05:36):
could no longer tend to her garden, leaving the labor
to her foreman and hired help. But true to her nature,
she remained involved, writing articles about her hybridizing methods and
advocating for women to take up gardening as a profession.
Theodosa herself returned to the earth. When she passed away
on September sixth, nineteen oh six, she was sixty years old.

(06:00):
She once said, I sometimes think that we do not
always choose our work, but are chosen or called to it.
It had always seemed to me that I was called
into the field of flowers with a special mission for
them to grow and disseminate them where they are loved,
to write about them, to talk about them, and most

(06:20):
of all, to create new varieties. All month, we're talking
about cultivators. For more information, find us on Facebook and
Instagram at Wimanica Podcast. Thanks to co creators Jenny and
Liz Kaplan for letting me guest host talk to you
tomorrow