Edith Wharton

 Today is the birthday of the American novelist, short story writer, playwright, and designer Edith Wharton.
In 1904, Edith wrote Italian Villas and Their Gardens. Edith thought gardens should be a series of outdoor rooms and she wrote,

“…In the blending of different elements, the subtle transition from the fixed and formal lines of art to the shifting and irregular lines of nature, and lastly, in the essential convenience and livableness of the garden, lies the fundamental secret of the old garden-magic…”

Edith’s summer cottage estate in Western Massachusetts was called The Mount. From The Mount, Edith could look down over her property and see her flower gardens. She designed the gardens herself. There’s a sizeable French flower garden, a sunken Italien Garden, a Lime Walk with Linden trees, and even grass steps.
Edith’s niece was the garden designer Beatrix Jones Farrand.