Montrose - Life in a Garden (Hardcover)

"A beautiful book about a beautiful garden."--Michael Pollan, author of "The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World"
"Nancy Goodwin's "Montrose: Life in a Garden" will inspire other gardeners to follow their life's passion. Her chronicle of a year in the garden reminds us that a keen eye for plants, attachment to place, and tolerance for hard work are what make exceptional gardens. Woven throughout her discerning plant descriptions and Ippy Patterson's graceful illustrations is a clear dedication to seeing Montrose continue as a garden long into the future."--Bill Noble, Director of Preservation Projects, The Garden Conservancy

""Montrose: Life in a Garden" is a beautifully written account of the joys and trials of gardening through all four seasons in a demanding climate; but even more, it illuminates a life's work that draws on the deepest levels of creative imagination. Nancy Goodwin likens the evolution of her garden to the unfolding of a visual symphony--a living and constantly changing composition that has grown seamlessly from her richly textured life at Montrose. Her descriptions of work in the garden and her vivid plant portraits are sympathetically enhanced by Ippy Patterson's lovely illustrations."--May Brawley Hill, author of "Grandmother's Garden: The Old-Fashioned American Garden, 1865-1915" and "On Foreign Soil: American Gardeners Abroad
""The list of people who make beautiful gardens, and then afterward write beautifully about them, is very short. Through this book, Nancy Goodwin's Montrose will be a speaking garden forever, and her flowers--many of them among the rarest things gardeners can grow--are preserved in the achingly lovely images ofIppy Patterson, where they will always remain fresh and fine. How fortunate we are that this wonderful book now joins the short list of books about great gardens, written by their makers."--Wayne Winterrowd, author of "Annuals and Tender Plants for North American Gardens"

"A hybrid between a botany intensive and an internship with one of the most accomplished gardeners in the country, this journal is like being at Nancy Goodwin's elbow--seeing through her eyes, learning, digging deeper, discovering. And strengthening the illusion of kneeling beside the Master, Ippy Patterson's illustrations give the text a magical clarity that's almost as good as growing those hellebores yourself."--Tovah Martin, author of "Tasha Tudor's Garden"