Of Gardens: Selected Essays

by Paula Deitz

Paula Deitz has delighted readers for more than thirty years with her vivid descriptions of both famous and hidden landscapes. Her writings allow readers to share in the experience of her extensive travels, from the waterways of Britain's Castle Howard to the Japanese gardens of Kyoto, and home again to New York City's Central Park. Collected for the first time, the essays in Of Gardens record her great adventure of continual discovery, not only of the artful beauty of individual gardens but also of the intellectual and historical threads that weave them into patterns of civilization, from the modest garden for family subsistence to major urban developments. Deitz's essays describe how people, over many centuries and in many lands, have expressed their originality by devoting themselves to cultivation and conservation. During a visit to the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden in Seal Harbor, Maine, Deitz first came to appreciate the notion that landscape architecture can be as intricately conceived as any major structure and is, indeed, the means by which we redeem the natural environment through design. Years later, as she wandered through the gardens of Versailles, she realized that because gardens give structure without confinement, they encourage a liberation of movement and thought. In Of Gardens , we follow Deitz down paths of revelation, viewing "A Bouquet of British Liverpool, Edinburgh, and London"; the parks and promenades of Jerusalem; the Moonlight Garden of the Taj Mahal; a Tuscan-style villa in southern California; and the rooftop garden at Tokyo's Mori Center, among many other sites. Deitz covers individual landscape architects and designers, including André Le Nôtre, Frederick Law Olmsted, Beatrix Farrand, Russell Page, and Michael Van Valkenburgh. She then features an array of parks, public places, and gardens before turning her attention to the burgeoning business of flower shows. The volume concludes with a memorable poetic epilogue entitled "A Winter Garden of Yellow."

Genres: Gardening, Nature

384 pages, Hardcover

First published September 21, 2010

Reviews

[Sophy H · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I'm DNF-ing this one as Deitz's writing style just doesn't do anything for me.

Most of the essays seem to overly concentrate on the people involved rather than the work that they did. We get scant little descriptions of immense gardens but a whole detailed back history of the person who created it.

The book missed a trick by not including any photographs of the gardens Deitz is discussing. We have to just imagine what they look like. It would have been nice to have a reference to what she was looking at.

I did like the brief essays mentioning Birkenhead Park and its inspiration for Central Park, and the Palm House at Sefton Park. Otherwise this was a fairly monotonous read for me unfortunately.

Off this goes to the community book exchange.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up not long after it was published in 2011. Every spring and summer I've savoured a number of the wonderful essays by Paula Deitz. The essays are on a range of topics, including garden history and design. I can't begin to say the amount I learned in reading it. I would have loved to have seen the original essays, as I expect many would have been accompanied by stunning photographs, but my imagination did the job for me. I hope in time to visit many of the gardens mentioned.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and pleasant book on gardens. They are presented enjoyably and thoughtfully.