Emily Dickinson
The Gardener Poet
December 10, 1830
Today is the birthday of Emily Dickinson.
The Dickinson author, Judith Farr, reminds us that during her lifetime, Emily Dickinson was,
"known more widely as a gardener... than as a poet."
Emily grew up gardening. She would help her mother with their large edible and ornamental garden.
The flower garden became Emily’s responsibility when she got older. She planted in a carefree cottage garden style.
After Emily died, her sister Lavinia took over the garden. Emily's niece and editor, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, recalls:
"All [Lavinia’s] flowers did as they liked: tyrannized over her, hopped out of their own beds and into each other’s beds, were never reproved or removed as long as they bloomed; for a live flower to Aunt Lavinia was more than any dead horticultural principle."