landscaping

This charming and lovely limited first edition (number 748 of 1500 numbered copies) is considered a classic in the field. Louise Beebe Wilder, an important figure in American gardening history, was greatly influenced by renowned British gardener Gertrude Jekyll. Wilder’s description of plants and her designs and artistry are still relevant to today's gardeners. Wilder writes about the seasons during one year in her garden at Balderbrae in Pomona, New York, which she and her husband purchased in 1910.

The Botany and Horticulture Library has in its collection Garden Club of America (GCA) booklets from 1924 to 2003, with information on the organization's annual meeting. This one celebrates the GCA's fiftieth anniversary in 1963. The book lists the meeting program and officers, and includes a short paragraph on each of the houses and gardens on the garden tours. In this book, two places listed on the tours are of particular interest: Cliveden, in Germantown, Pennsylvania, was built in 1763 by Benjamin Chew, and remained in the Chew family for seven generations.

This is not a typical book on gardening methods, but rather a meditation on how each of us responds to a garden as a place, and on the importance of gardens to humans’ well-being. Chapter topics include the “social side of gardens” and "gardens of well-known people." Author Hildegarde Hawthorne was the granddaughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne and a prolific writer in her own right. The book is richly illustrated with drawings and black-and-white photographs. The last chapter speculates about America’s future gardens. Will we have stately gardens similar to those in England, Italy, and France?