“The United Nations recognizes 195 countries – but there is strong argument that there is a 196th: the United Nations of Gardeners…” So begins this lavish gift book for anyone drawn to growing things.
Beautifully produced, the volume contains flora inspired art from Egyptian carving to Japanese screens to contemporary jewelry to gardener Barbie; archival books (Vita Sackville West’s In Your Garden, The 1772 City Gardener), plans (Frederick Law Olmstead’s map of Central Park, Rudyard Kipling’s Rose Garden, Mt. Vernon), prints and photographs (L’Oasis d”Aboukir, Paris, Winter Back Gardens, Islington, Frida Kahlo in her Garden at Coyoacan), catalogs, tools, structures… Each vibrantly printed image is reflected upon historically, culturally, and in terms of what’s growing. Notable horticulturists are featured.
Left: Paul Holmes and Vita Sackville-West, In Your Garden, 1951. Picture credit: Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading. Reproduced with permission of Curtis Brown Group Ltd, London on behalf of The Beneficiaries of the Estate of Vita Sackville-West. Copyright © Vita Sackville-West (page 80) Printed book, 20.5 × 13.5 cm / 8 × 51/4 in. Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading, UK
Right: Maria Louise Kirk and Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden, 1911. Picture credit: Wikipedia (CC0) (page 234) Printed book, 20 × 15.5 cm / 7¾ × 6 in. Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Plants represent 80 percent of matter on earth. Our ancestors mined the natural world for food, medicine and shelter. The oldest images of gardens date from 3000 BC. Early on, these were planted out of necessity, fenced off from predators. It’s been discovered that the same part of the brain used for recognizing the biological importance of food or mates is employed to appreciate beauty. As aesthetics became a consideration, ornamental plantings rose only for the sake of appearance.
Hafiz Nurallah, A View of Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar, from the Polier Album, c.1780. Picture credit: © Photo courtesy Sotheby’s 2023 (page 39) Opaque watercolour heightened with gold on paper, 24.5 × 37.2 cm / 9½ × 14½ in. Private collection
Ancient gardens were linked with the idea of paradise and the taming of nature. Over the years, terraces, fountains, ponds, pavilions, wooded copses and greenhouses came into use. Today gardens offer serenity and sensory pleasure; the teaching of patience, a way to connect with nature and to be creative. Challenge and satisfaction in growing flowers or food sources must consider multiple factors from season and climate to soil, light, disease and still, predators.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Uncle Sam Says – Garden to Cut Food Costs, 1917. Picture credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [reproduction number: LC-USZC4-7931] (page 115) Lithograph, 39 × 51 cm / 15¼ × 20 in. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
As in any aesthetic, tastes change. This around the world panoply shows personal gardens, parklands, and estates which may be highly structured or happily random. Texture, shape, color, and scent are considered. Not strictly a how-to, information can be garnered. Jacques Majorelle’s Majorelle blue was created for Moroccan garden walls because of the environment. Ecological gardener Nigel Dunnett’s 2022 London Jubilee Gardens were modeled after pointillist art. We now have “sound horticultural practices.” Inner city spaces are cultivated in order to bring communities together. Cutting gardens are planted to reduce carbon footprints. There are television and radio shows as well as competitions devoted to the art. Garden brings together a vast panel of experts. Peruse as a practitioner or merely for inspiration
Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, Bee & Herb Garden, 1954. Picture credit: Garden Museum (page 202) Printed paper, 27.5 × 21.5 cm / 107/8 × 81/2 in. Garden Museum, London
