Google honors garden designer Gertrude Jekyll with doodle

ajc.com

Have you peeped Google today? It's all about Gertrude Jekyll, a famous British horticulturist.

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The search engine site, which sometimes uses its homepage to honor prominent figures, is highlighting the trailblazer to celebrate her on what would have been her 174th birthday.

Born in London in 1843, Jekyll spent much of her childhood on her family’s estate, Munstead House, and later moved to her own home, Munstead Wood. There, she looked after a garden, seeking out different plants and species.

The designer's own backyard supplied several of the plants she used to build others across the globe. Throughout her career, she created "about 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the U.S., which were documented in photographs, over a dozen books, and thousands of magazine articles," according to a Google statement.

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But her talents were not limited to her green thumb. She was also an accomplished musician, composer, woodworker, metalworker and botanist.

While many of her gardens have been lost, a few have been restored, including the ones at Munstead Wood, Hestercombe House and Manor House in Upton Grey, which are all located in England.

Before her death in 1932, she was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour of the Royal Horticultural Society and the George Robert White Medal of Honor of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

Now, Google is paying tribute.

"Today's Doodle was created by British artist Ben Giles. Giles unites the hot and cool colors the horticulturist favored to create a lush and brilliant garden collage. From the corner of the illustration, Jekyll watches her garden grow," the site wrote.

Check out the doodle archive  to see her animated doodle from start to finish.

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