The Writer in the Garden: Selections from the Work of 44 Authors

Edith Wharton, under the spell of evergreen foliage and stone, celebrates the magic of Italian gardens. Charles Kuralt waits on the bloom of a single daffodil like an expectant father. Gertrude Jekyll, after a month-long drought, praises the coming rain. Allen Lacy rails against hydrangeas. Here is an engaging group of more than fifty gardening writers—and writing gardeners—reveling in their likes and dislikes, confessing their shortcomings, and sharing their successes and failures. The Writer in the Garden presents a colorful bouquet of prose and poetry from both sides of the Atlantic. With subjects ranging from an old-fashioned rose to ornery weeds, the hazards of rare plant collecting, and the tribulations of inclement weather, The Writer in the Garden brings together an entertaining selection of garden writing from the past one hundred years. From Thoreau to Jamaica Kincaid, the writers and gardeners here express the trials and joys of gardening in the country as well as the challenges and rewards of trying to make things grow in the city. But whether a garden is large or small, thriving or failing, every gardener has a story. Bursting with personality, strong opinions, and bright ideas, The Writer in the Garden is a book to read and enjoy—season after season. May I assure you the gentleman-- / Vita Sackvill-West -- On the defiance of gardeners / Henry Mitchell -- A garden is like a life / Janice Emily Bowers -- Poem / Emily Dickinson -- The purpose of a garden / Dean Hole -- A gentle plea for chaos / Mirabel Osler -- The garden / Andrew Marvell -- You must not any of you-- / Mrs. Theresa Earle -- Hydrangeas? Never! / Allen Lacy -- The day of the living dead / Patrica Thorpe -- Into the rose garden / Michael Pollan -- A question of design / Beverly Nichols -- The flower show (from The country gardening book) -- How the garden grows and grows / Henry Mitchell -- My invisible garden / Anne Raver -- Horse-chestnut trees and roses / James Schuyler -- Italian gardens / Edith Wharton -- Half the interest of a garden-- / Mrs. Theresa Earle -- A non-U garden / Nancy Mitford -- A description of Katharine White / E.B. White -- Evening primrose / John Clare. February / Joseph Wood Krutch -- House arrest / Timothy Ribbesford -- The secret garden / Frances Hodgson Burnett -- Cuttings / Theodore Roethke -- The month of May / Richardson Wright -- Rain after drought / Gertrude Jekyll -- Oxford gardens / Henry James -- Sunday in the garden with weeds / Sara Stein -- The ideal garden outfit / Lady Seton -- Gardens of one color / Vita Sackville-West -- Plan collectors / Ken Druse -- Help / Eleanor Perenyi -- In search of style / Russell Paige -- Knowing how to grow things-- / Mary Keene -- Elephant ears / Allen Lacy -- Magenta the maligned / Louise Beebe Wilder -- The garden of King Alcinous (from Homer's Iliad translated by Alexander Pope) -- I remember, I remember / Thalassa Cruso -- Poppy / Colette -- Artful disorder / Vita Sackville-West -- My love affair with Wilbur Foss / Christopher Reed -- A mass of sooty shapeless slime / Celia Thaxter -- Weeding / George Duhamel -- Not a place to be happy in / Elizabeth von Arnim -- Feline touch / Beverly Nichols Need to add these contributors: Stephen Lacy (different from Lacey!) Susan Hill Thalassa Cruso Theodore Roethke Thomas C. Cooper Vita Sackville-West W.S. Merwin Wayne Winterrowd