Immersion by Nola Anderson
As Heard on The Daily Gardener Podcast:
This book came out on April 13, 2021 - (so we're almost at the year anniversary) - and the subtitle is Living and Learning in an Olmsted Garden.
This book came about because Nola Anderson and her husband purchased The Chimneys in 1991. The Chimneys was an old estate, and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. designed the gardens for the original owners. Sadly, the property had fallen into ruin when Nola and her husband acquired it.
The Chimneys story reminds me so much of Sissinghurst. I love it when people revive old spaces like this.
One of the things that I appreciate about Nola is her courage and curiosity. When Nola walked onto The Chimneys property, she did not have a lick of garden experience, which always reminds me of the saying, "Ignorance is bliss." Perhaps if Nola had been a gardener, she might've looked at the property and felt daunted by the restoration task.
But instead, Nola and her husband committed to renewing this incredible seaside garden. After three decades of hard work and research, The Chimneys was a sight to behold.
Originally, The Chimneys was created at the turn of the century, between 1902 and 1914. The Chimneys was home to a wealthy Boston finance guy named Gardiner Martin Lane and his wife, Emma. They hired Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to create an Italianate garden for them.
The seaside garden is perched on a bluff and comprises a series of terraces that gradually taper down with the natural topography. The very top terrace is called the water terrace and features a rose-covered pergola and a shelter that boasts a stunning view of the terraces below and the ocean. Then there is the most incredible water feature (on the book cover), inspired by a 16th-century country estate in Italy called Villa Lante.
In the Facebook group for the show, I shared a video of Monte Don walking through the incredible garden at Villa Lante. Monte says that this garden, Villa Lante, is the prime example of an Italianate Garden and the inspiration for Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. when working for the Lane family.
The other terraces at The Chimneys are also stunning. They include the overlooking terrace, the lavender terrace, the all-white tea terrace, the vegetable garden, the crab apple allee, and finally, the luxuriant rose garden.
So how lucky are Nola and her husband to stumble on The Chimney's estate and bring it back to life? It really was the chance of a lifetime. And don't you just love stories like this? The people who take on these forgotten gems - these gardens from our past - usher them through a transformation to reclaim their former glory.
Before I forget, I wanted to mention that Clint Clemens is the photographer for this book, and he did a truly magnificent job. The photography is absolutely stunning. This book is 293 pages of The Chimneys - a garden on my bucket list.
SI HORTUM IN HORTORIA PODCASTA IN BIBLIOTEHCA HABES, NIHIL DEERIT.
