I love the stories of famous gardeners—past and present–and read as many of them as I can. When I noticed that veteran pop biographer Meryl Gordon had written a biography of Bunny Mellon, I had to get my hands on it. Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Legend is about a woman known … Read more
Novelist Virginia Woolf famously wrote, “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.’’ Some women have written fiction in the absence of one or both of those two conditions, but their presence makes it easier. I have always thought that a garden is the ultimate “room … Read more
I have decided not to be gloomy about mid to late fall. Yes, the leaves are coming down from the sugar maple in my front strip faster than I can get rid of them. Yes, if I think about it, I can envision all of the icy blasts, damaging storms and winter grayness that is … Read more
Eleven years ago I bought a beautiful garden book with an intriguing title: The Laskett. Subtitled, “The Making of a Garden,” the book chronicled the creation of a horticultural masterpiece that was also the unique manifestation of the bond between the author, Roy Strong, and his artistic and talented wife, Julia Trevelyan Oman. Sir Roy … Read more
I have always been extremely impressionable. Last weekend I watched video adaptations of some of English author P.G. Wodehouse’s hilarious short stories, featuring the ultimate upper class wastrel, Bertie Wooster, and his indispensible valet, Jeeves. I was so impressed with Jeeves’ impeccable housekeeping standards that for the next two days I had the bed made, … Read more
