Martha Crone

Martha Crone (1894–1989) was an American botanist and horticulturist.

Biography

Private life

Crone was born in Minneapolis on January 29, 1894, as Martha E. Eberlein, to Edward and Amelie Eberlein. She attended formal schooling only through 8th grade, but became a self-taught expert in, botany, horticulture, and writing. She had a daughter (Janet C. Prevey, born 1917, died 1989) and three grandchildren (David Prevey, Judith Prevey, and Linder Wander). Under her leadership, the garden grew to over 20 acres in Theodore Wirth Park (formerly known as Glenwood Park) in north Minneapolis. She planted thousands of flowers and ferns while overseeing the landscaping of trees and other plantings. Martha Crone planted over 100 species of wildflowers including many rare wildflowers that were rescued by Crone from across the state including at sites being plowed under for development.

The Fringed Gentian From 1953 to 1971, Crone became the editor of The Fringed Gentian the quarterly newsletter of Friends of the Wildflower Garden, Inc. Her writing skills and passion for nature are evident in her last contribution to the newsletter in April 1971. Her yearly reports to the Park Board, led by Theodore Wirth, were comprehensive about plantings, visitors, weather, improvements to the garden, and mosquitoes. Her sense of humor over the latter is evidenced in a letter to Theodore Wirth. In response to Wirth's criticism of the mosquitoes at the garden, Martha Crone replies: "I wish to offer my apologies for the ill manner of my mosquitoes, they are rather difficult to train as each one lives only a short time."

Cedar Creek Natural History Area On December 31, 1936, Crone and her husband acquired 40 acres of property in the Cedar Creek Forest, north of Minneapolis and east of Bethel, MN, for $375 with a down payment of $10. The Crone property provided access to the research laboratories at Cedar Creek Natural History Area and she eventually sold her parcel to this now registered US Natural Landmark where the hillock where her cabin was is now known as Crone Knoll.