The Children’s Garden Book

by Olive Percival

A gardener "ought to have a little make-believe," the Southern California garden maven Olive Percival mused more than eighty years ago. Inspired by this principle, she devised plans for whimsical gardens that could be created by children and adults alike. Her delightful schemes included "The Garden of Aladdin," an enchanted, sunken orchard fragrant with kumquat, persimmon, and orange trees; "The Fairy Ring," a blue fairyland of forget-me-nots, larkspur, and borage; and "The Sliced Cake," a round, pink-and-white garden divided into wedges—the perfect setting for afternoon tea.

Percival's charming illustrations and instructions for fifteen fanciful children's gardens, all selected from her unpublished manuscript in the Huntington Library, are reproduced for the first time in this volume, designed in keeping with her own arts and crafts aesthetic. Described by Percival as "a potpourri of flowery facts and garden lore," The Children's Garden Book shows children that the pleasures of one's own garden may be achieved through planning, patience, dedication, and imagination.

64 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jenny]

Discovered this at the Huntington Museum & Gardens today. Kicking myself that I didn't pick it up, I definitely will next time we are there.