Candice Wheeler: The Mother of Interior Design Who Found God in Gardening

August 5, 1923

My dear garden dreamers, today marks the anniversary of the death of Candice Wheeler, who departed this earthly garden on this day in 1923.

Candice Wheeler is often called "the mother of interior design."

In addition to design, Wheeler loved gardening with a passion that would make even the most dedicated among you blush with admiration. She helped create the artist community of Onteora, a haven for creative souls nestled in nature's embrace.

Onteora, my darling dirt-diggers, was known for its unique homes and gardens. In its prime, it was a summer colony teeming with artists set in New York's Catskill Mountains, where creativity bloomed as abundantly as the surrounding flora.

Wheeler's garden was known as Wildmuir.

Oh, what a splendid place it was!

Wildmuir had a beautiful lawn that stretched like an emerald carpet, specimen rhododendrons that would make your hearts flutter, laurels that stood proud, and evergreen trees that whispered secrets of the ages. In the 1920s, Wildmuir was updated by Harold Caparn, who designed the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens – yes, the very same gardens that continue to inspire us today!

Like Martha Stewart, Candice Wheeler was multitalented, a veritable renaissance woman of her time. Her publishing credits include a variety of books, from How to Make Rugs to Content in a Garden.

Content in a Garden is partly an essay and partly a guide as to what can be grown in a small space. Wheeler wrote from her own experiences, my cherished chlorophyll companions.

In a 1923 newspaper advertisement for the book, the reviewer wrote that Candice Wheeler and her daughter, Dora Wheeler Keith,

"are thoroughly in sympathy with nature, of which the former writes as charmingly as the latter illustrates it."

And it was Candace Wheeler, my precious perennial planters, who uttered these divine words that should be etched into every gardener's heart:

"One of the most perfect and unfailing joys of life is planting. It is the creative joy felt by God."

Is that not the most exquisite sentiment, my devoted garden friends?

Have you not felt that divine spark when pressing a seed into warm soil, knowing that you are participating in one of life's most profound miracles?

Imagine standing in Wildmuir during its heyday, the scent of rhododendrons filling the air, the gentle rustle of evergreens providing the soundtrack to a summer's day.

Wheeler understood that gardens are not merely collections of plants but sanctuaries for the soul, places where one might find contentment amid the chaos of life.

Wheeler's legacy lives on not only in the principles of interior design but in gardens everywhere where beauty and function intertwine like the most harmonious of climbing roses. Her understanding that one could find contentment in a garden, regardless of its size, is a lesson we would all do well to remember, my darling budding enthusiasts!

As you tend to your own plots today, whether grand or modest, remember Wheeler's words and feel that creative joy she spoke of so eloquently.

After all, what is gardening if not playing a small part in the divine act of creation?