Into the Wild

"Beautiful nature" in the 18th century:  Pope's Garden at Twickenham, c.1730, by William Kent.  From the British Museum “Foll...

Zelda's Flowers

This past spring I provided some garden history background to the producers of the new Great Gatsby movie (who were lovely to work with), a...

Prairie Studies, J.E. Weaver

 The Nurture Studies reminded me of the story of J.E. Weaver, who I first read about in the excellent book Gardening with Prairie Plants by...

Nurture Studies, Diana Scherer

Photographer Diana Scherer grows her subject flowers from seed over a six-month period, confining their roots in a vase.  When it is remove...

Garden of Gold

It was Sir Walter Raleigh who got me started on the garden of gold (I am always chasing Sir Walter and his moonbow ).  His 1595 voyage to So...

Garden History Giveaway Winner!

Another favorite from Frances Benjamin Johnston...the 'House of Usefulness' school window at the National Cash Register Company in D...

Garden History Giveaway: Gardens for a Beautiful America, Frances Benjamin Johnston

I love the way the title of this book sits in American garden history.  America's strongest landscape tradition is not of its private ga...