The other day, when I picked up a couple of books at our beloved Buckham Memorial Library, I noticed a display in the hallway titled “Minnesota Seedswomen.” It featured three pioneering women who helped establish Minnesota as an important center of the American seed industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
What makes these women especially remarkable is that, at a time when women rarely owned businesses, they built successful enterprises and changed the way seeds were sold across the country. The three women featured — Carrie H. Lippincott, Emma V. White, and Jessie R. Prior — left an enduring mark on the gardening industry.
Carrie H. Lippincott, known as “The Pioneer Seedswoman of America,” was the first and perhaps the most influential of Minnesota’s early seedswomen. She established her Minneapolis mail-order flower seed business in the late 1880s and published one of the first seed catalogs designed specifically to appeal to women gardeners. Using beautiful illustrations rather than plain text, she helped make flower gardening more accessible to average families. Her greatest legacy was proving that a woman could successfully build and operate a national business, and today she is recognized as one of America’s most influential early seed entrepreneurs.
Known as “The North Star Seedswoman,” Emma V. White entered the seed business in 1896 when she took over the flower seed department of E. Nagel & Company in Minneapolis. She expanded the company’s offerings beyond flowers to include vegetables, herbs, bulbs, and plants, making her catalogs valuable references for home gardeners. White also promoted the concept of the “kitchen garden,” encouraging families to grow their own food decades before Victory Gardens became popular. Through her work, she broadened home gardening beyond ornamental flowers by championing vegetable and herb production.
Jessie R. Prior became the public face of the Prior seed business in 1895 after succeeding her husband’s flower seed operation. Like Lippincott and White, she recognized that women made many household gardening decisions and marketed directly to them. She helped popularize mail-order flower seed sales through attractive illustrated catalogs that emphasized beauty, reliability, and ease of growing. While perhaps less well known than Lippincott and White, Jessie Prior helped establish Minneapolis as one of America’s early centers for mail-order flower seed businesses and inspired future generations of women entrepreneurs.
Several decades later, women throughout Southern Minnesota continue to carry on that remarkable legacy.
Faribault, once known as the “Peony Capital of the World,” was home to Brand Peony Farms. While A. M. Brand is often credited with the company’s success, one of its most overlooked leaders was Myrtle G. Gentry. Beginning as the company’s secretary-treasurer, she later became its sole owner, making her one of the most influential women in American peony history.
Souba Greenhouse of Owatonna is co-owned by Debi Souba and Jody (Souba) Hugley. Together, they have helped grow the family business into one of Southern Minnesota’s premier garden centers. Their ever-expanding workshops, educational programs, and community outreach continue to strengthen the business while preparing the next generation for leadership.
Here in Faribault, Donahue’s Greenhouse has, for more than 50 years, become a spring tradition for hundreds of gardeners while also building a nationally recognized wholesale clematis-growing operation. Co-founder Lois Donahue remains the matriarch of the family business. Today, second-generation daughters Julie Donahue Zweber, Mary Donahue, and Kathy Donahue Nass serve on the full-time management team alongside four of their brothers. Happily, members of the third generation are also carrying on the family tradition.
From the pioneering seedswomen of the late 1800s to today’s greenhouse owners, growers, and entrepreneurs, women have played an extraordinary role in shaping Minnesota’s horticultural heritage. Their contributions continue to inspire new generations of gardeners, business owners, and innovators, ensuring that women’s influence in agriculture and horticulture will continue to grow for years to come.
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Jayne Spooner is a University of Minnesota master gardener. She loves sharing her garden-related thoughts.
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