Jane Webb Loudon became a talented botanical artist and, today, her books command higher prices than her husband's books

Quotations from Jane Webb Loudon

It happened in my youth, that my father, who was in the law, was obliged, from ill health, to give up his profession, and to reside in the country; and as my mother was dead I kept his house. I had thus to practise what I have here attempted to teach; and I shall be only too happy if I am the means of sparing others the annoyances I suffered myself. The lady's country companion 

The drawing room should be fitted up with more elegance than any other room in the house. The walls may be paneled, and the panels filled in with fluted silk, with a gilt moulding round them; or the walls may be covered with flock or satin paper, with a gilt moulding under the cornice... A Claude or two, some of Guido's exquisite female heads, and one of Raphael's Madonnas, would be very suitable. The lady's country companion

I shall always be delighted to give you the best advice I can, but that is all. Should any quarrels arise between you and your husband, (and it would be very strange, indeed, if there should not,) your best plan is to keep them entirely to yourself, and never to ask advice respecting them from any friend whatever. The lady's country companion

You have often told me of the exquisite taste your husband possesses, and his fondness for fine paintings: he must, therefore, be admirably qualified for improving the scenery round his house himself. Landscapegardening is, in fact, but landscape-painting on the largest scale, and with the noblest materials; the same taste is required in both. The lady's country companion

When I married Mr. Loudon, it is scarcely possible to imagine any person more completely ignorant than I was, of every thing relating to plants and gardening; and, as may be easily imagined, I found every one about me so well acquainted with the subject, that I was soon heartily ashamed of my ignorance. My husband, of course, was quite as anxious to teach me as I was to learn. Gardening for ladies

One of the great secrets for enabling a woman to render her husband happy, and, of course, to be happy herself, is partaking with him as much as possible in both his amusements and his studies. A woman should have as many subjects of interest as possible in common with her husband; and, in fact, she should have no objects of interest in the cares for which he cannot participate. The lady's country companion

[Agnes Loudon's] papa had been in a bad state of health for some time, and [Mrs Loudon's] attention had been so entirely occupied by him, that Agnes had been comparatively neglected by her mother. Her papa also could not be troubled with her, although he was very fond of her when he was well; sick people cannot bear the fatigue of children. Glimpses of nature

"Those poppies are very pretty, certainly," said Agnes; "and I should admire them very much in a garden; but I do not like them in a corn field, because papa says they are a proof of bad farming."
The old gentleman laughed at this, and asked Agnes if she knew the use of poppies, and that opium was made from them.
"Not from that kind, I believe, sir," said Agnes. "It is the white poppy, is it not, mamma, that produces the opium ?"
"Yes," returned Mrs. Merton; "and it requires a hotter and drier climate than that of England to produce it in perfection. The best opium,"  Glimpses of nature 

"Oh, mamma," interrupted Agnes, "I will not give any trouble at all.”
"Perhaps you are hardly aware of what you are promising," said Mrs. Merton, smiling; "your papa has determined on taking no servant with him, so that you must dress and undress yourself, and take care of your own clothes."
But, mamma," said Agnes," shall we not have poor little Susan?
No," replied Mrs. Merton; "there will only be your papa, besides you and me: and as my time will be principally occupied in attending on him, you must contrive to take care of yourself."
Agnes laughed; I think I am quite old enough to do that," said she.
“We shall see,” replied her mother." You must also dine and take all your meals with us; as it will probably not be convenient for us to stay to take any refreshment at the time you have been used to dine."
This, so far from being a hardship, Agnes thought the most delightful part of the whole, as she had long considered dining at six o'clock as one of the great desiderata of life; but Mrs. Merton continued: "You must also never complain of being hungry or thirsty; but act as much as possible as if you were really a woman, since we are going to treat you like one.
“I am afraid, mamma," said Agnes, "that will be very hard."  Glimpses of nature 

Thus lost in meditation, I walked onwards till I reached the brow of a hill, and a superb prospect burst upon me. A fertile valley richly wooded, studded with sumptuous villas and romantic cottages, and watered by a noble river, that wound slowly its lazy course along, spread beneath my feet; and lofty hills swelling to the skies, their summit lost in clouds, bounded the horizon. The sun was setting in all its splendour, and its lingering rays gave those glowing tints and deep masses of shadow to the landscape that sometimes produce so magical an effect. It was quite a Claude Lorraine scene; and more fully to enjoy it, I entered a hay-field, and seated myself upon a grassy bank. The day had been sultry; and the evening breeze, as it murmured through the foliage, felt cool and refreshing. "It is a lovely world," thought I, "notwithstanding all that cynics can say against it. Our own passions bring misery upon our heads, and then we rail at the world, though we only are in fault. Why should I seek to wander in the regions of fiction? Why not enjoy tranquilly the blessings Heaven has bestowed upon me?" The Mummy

Before the Queen died, she chose her niece Claudia to succeed her; and as she enacted that none of her successors should marry, she ordered that all future queens should be chosen, by the people, from such female members of her family as might be between twenty and twentyfive years of age, at the time of the throne's becoming vacant. Every male throughout the kingdom who had attained the age of twentyone, was to have a voice in this election; but as it was presumed it might be inconvenient to convoke these numerous electors into one place, it was agreed that every ten thousand should choose a deputy to proceed to London to represent them, and that a majority of these deputies should elect the Queen. The Mummy 

Obituaries of Jane Loudon

'Mrs. Loudon once more put forth her energy and talent, and for many years supported her family by her own labours. Her works were now principally on botanical subjects, of which 'The Ladies' Flower Garden,' in six quarto volumes, 'The Amateur Gardener's Calendar,' 'The Ladies' Country Companion,' 'Botany for Ladies,' 'Gardening for Ladies,' 'British Wild Flowers,' and 'The Ladies' Companion to the Flower Garden,' were the principal. Most of these works have been extremely popular, and they are all interesting and useful. 'The Ladies' Companion to the Flower Companion to the Flower Garden' has been  through seven large editions, and had a circulation of more than 20,000 copies. Mrs. Loudon's last literary labour was preparing a new edition of that and 'The Amateur Gardener's Calendar,' both of which were completed shortly before her death.' John C. Francis The Athenaeum.

'Mrs. Jane Loudon, a lady best known by her works on botany and gardening, has gone this week from among us, leaving a place vacant in society and in letters. Thirty years ago-then Miss Webb - she made her first appearance in print, in a remarkable novel, called 'The Mummy,' which won for her, not only public applause, but the hand of J. C. Loudon, the eminent landscape and architectural gardener. In Mr. Loudon's works she bore a share, and on her own separate account has produced a number of beautiful and important books well known in every lady's library.' The Athenaeum

'When the late Mrs. Jane Loudon, the botanical writer, wrote to Apsley House for permission to see the remarkable beech grove at Strathfieldsaye, forming the "Waterloo aveneue," and presenting the finest specimens of the arbor fagus in England, she briefly asked in her note to see his grace's Waterloo beeches, the signature being J. C. Loudon, whereupon his grace despatched the known reply, addressed to the Right Reverend Dr. Blomfield, mistaking the signaton's compliments to the Bishop of London; is told by his body servant that the trousers worn at Waterloo were given away many years ago to Mr. Haydon, the painter, at the request of that gentleman, who may possibly have them still. July 21, 1839."-Globe Paris Correspondent.' The Spectator

'Yet by no true lover of flowers will her fame be forgotten. or her works laid aside; for no one has done so much to make beautiful gardens possible to the weakest hands the smallest incokes; no one has taught so genially  or so well how to cultivate with intelligence. So long as English gardens shall be cultivated, or English flowers cherished, Mrs Loudon's name will be remembered with gratitude.' Household Words.