Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life by Marta McDowell
As Heard on The Daily Gardener Podcast:
The subtitle to the book is The Plants and Places That Inspired the Iconic Poet.
I love what Tovah Martin says about this book:
“In these pages, you are beside Emily Dickinson’s elbow—feeling the dense heat of summer, learning the skills of an ultra-observant plantswoman, finding the poetry in nature.”
Emily Dickinson was a keen observer of the natural world. Still, less well known is the fact that she was also an avid gardener—sending fresh bouquets to friends, pressing flowers in her letters, and studying botany at Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke. At her family home, she tended both a small glass conservatory and a flower garden.
The author, Marta McDowell, traces a year in her garden and the book reveals details few know about Dickinson. Marta masterfully weaves together Dickinson’s poems, excerpts from letters, contemporary and historical photography, and botanical art. And McDowell gives an enchanting new perspective on one of America’s most celebrated but enigmatic literary figures: Emily Dickinson.
Marta McDowell lives, gardens, and writes in Chatham, New Jersey. She consults for public gardens and private clients, writes, and lectures on gardening topics. She teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden, where she studied landscape design. Her particular interest is in authors and their gardens, the connection between the pen and the trowel.
SI HORTUM IN HORTORIA PODCASTA IN BIBLIOTEHCA HABES, NIHIL DEERIT.
