Can you imagine growing up where the Marin Art & Garden Center is now? Isabella Worn did just that, and went on to become a floral and garden designer who worked on some of California’s most memorable projects of the early 20th century. She oversaw the planting of the gardens at Filoli in Woodside and for many years supervised their maintenance; she was also hired by William Randolph Hearst to work on his gardens at San Simeon.
Thomas Ross Perry, Vice President of the MAGC Board of Trustees, is a descendent of the Worn family himself, and his article on his great aunt Bella Worn was published in Eden, the Journal of the California Garden & Landscape History Society. Download a copy of his article here, and get to know more about the CGLHS, an interdisciplinary group that celebrates the beauty and diversity of California’s historic gardens and landscapes. You may recall that the organization held its annual meeting here at Marin Art and Garden Center a few years ago.
Bella in the garden