I am happy to report that the Victorian Society in America has given my new book All about Flowers: James Vick's Nineteenth-Century Seed Company its annual book award. According to their website, the Victorian Society presents its award to up to…
Since the seventeenth century, American plants have formed part of the English garden. American gardeners however preferred exotic plants, rather than native varieties, well into the end of the nineteenth century. Philadelphia nurseryman Thomas Meehan in his magazine Gardener's Monthly of…
Do you ever wonder where your favorite garden flowers came from? Each of the plants that inhabit the garden has a history. The story of how it arrived in our gardens is dependent on botany, but also economics and geography.…
It's that time of year again. Garden catalogs arrive in the mail on a regular basis. Even historian Jill Lepore has a new article in The New Yorker called "What We Learn from Leafing through Seed Catalogues." She presents her…
Garden photography can easily become a treasure of garden design history. It is not just an image of a few flowers, but a photo can enlighten a viewer in what is important in designing beds and other areas in the…