Monday, January 26, 2015

Cool Garden Blog Discovery

An almost unknown blog about a fascinating subject.

I've been following an incredibly interesting blog recently: American Gardening, which is about American garden history. Anything with the word "history" in it may sound dull, but I can't believe how fascinating it actually is -- there have recently been brief (but nicely illustrated) posts about such topics as:


... how Chrysanthemums became popular in the 1880s (I had no idea how recent an introduction they are, unlike most other "old-fashioned" flowers we grow)




... how women weren't recognized as serious gardeners until the late 19th century
Beatrix Farrand (Pinterest)

... a number of posts about nineteenth century seed catalogs, which are beautiful art in their own right, as well as fascinating for modern gardeners to look at



... and many short reviews of garden and garden history books that the author recommends.



The author of the blog is Thomas Mickey, a retired communications professor, avid longtime Master Gardener and garden historian, who has written a beautifully illustrated book: America's Romance with the English Garden, which I bought when it was published in 2013. There are any number of garden history books about British gardens, but not so many about American gardens and gardeners, so Mickey's book was a nice addition. His book focuses on 19th century seed catalogs and the role they played in influencing our tastes toward English style gardens, rather than Italian, French or other national historic garden styles.

A book full of beautiful images from
nineteenth century gardens.

Anyway, I highly recommend taking a look at Thomas Mickey's blog. It's possible that I am the only person who knows about this blog besides the author (at least, I am the only one who ever comments) and that's a shame, because the blog is really quite interesting. The posts are brief but informative and I always feel I have learned something of value about the history of how we have come to garden the way we do today.


14 comments:

  1. I love anything with history in the title. I have just been to look at Thomas Mickey' s blog and it is indeed really interesting. I will go and have another look when I have more time as there are so many interesting posts.

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    1. Great! I'm glad you like the blog too, Chloris. Regards, -Beth

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  2. Hello, Beth, yes, a most interesting and informative blog. I posted a comment there saying I got the link from you. Keep cozy by the fire.

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    1. Thanks, Jane. I hope more people will start reading it too. -Beth

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  3. I SUBSCRIBED so now hopefully he will have TWO commenters!

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    1. Great -- thanks Contessa, and thanks for reading! -Beth

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  4. With my English background, I was thrilled to learn about this blog, Beth. I'm going right over there to take a peak. And I'll probably buy the book. Thanks. P. x

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    1. I'm sure you'll find much of interest in both his blog and his book, which trace the influence of your native home garden styles upon your adopted home garden styles. Thanks for reading! -Beth

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  5. Oh how fun! I love learning about the history of plants and how they came to be where and how they are. Thanks for the recommendation!

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    1. I hope you enjoy the blog, Indie -- and I'm glad to hear that you find plant history interesting too. Thanks for reading! -Beth

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  6. I love history and gardening so popping over there too...thanks for letting us know about this blog.

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    1. I hope you enjoy the blog, Donna. Thanks for reading! -Beth

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  7. Beth, just read these comments. Thanks for supporting my blog here by letting people learn about it. Have a great weekend.

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    1. Keep up the interesting work -- I always look forward to reading your posts. Thanks for stopping by! -Beth

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