Writing the Garden: A Literary Conversation Across Two Centuries

By Elizabeth Barlow Rogers

Elizabeth Barlow Rogers’ collection of famous garden writers excerpts is both a pleasure to read and a solid education in the history of garden writing. Barlow selected over 40 authors, some of whom are primarily gardeners (such as Penelope Hobhouse and Gertrude Jekyll) and others who  are authors who sometimes delve into the garden (Edith Wharton and Michael Pollan). Excerpts from these authors most famous works are interspersed with their personal histories and how they came to the garden to write.

Barlow also includes her own relationships with these authors as both a reader and the president of the Foundation for Landscape Studies. Her in-depth understanding of garden design and history over the 19th and 20th centuries allows the casual reader to learn design styles over two centuries of gardening through the selected words of some of the worlds most respected gardeners.

I can think of no better way to spend a cold January afternoon than being transported to some of the world’s great gardens, through the words of their creators.

Join us to discuss this book at our next Nature’s Narratives Book Discussion Group on Wednesday, January 9 at 5:30 in the Wister Center.