English Gardens-Sibylle Kreutzberger's Garden

The view of the garden from Sibylle's cottage

One of the great thrills on our trip to England this summer was to spend some time with gardening legend Sibylle Kreutzberger.  Through the kind introduction of our hosts, Gordon and Mary Hayward, we had the opportunity to take tea and visit with Sibylle in her wonderful Cotswold cottage and garden.

The Color of Inspiration

Every once in awhile you run into gardeners who are truly inspiring.  This was the case recently when I visited a garden in Pennsylvania that, for the past 48 years, has been lovingly nurtured and maintained by Merle and Beulah Cordell, a couple in their eighties who, by comparison, make me feel like a lazy slug.

The Featured Gardener- Pearl Fryar

Almost every year my good gardening friend, and optometrist, Michael Gordon, does a wonderful thing and takes a trip to Haiti for a week long eye mission.  This year, in addition to providing eye care to many Haitians who live in poverty, he returned with a terrific photo of a proud Haitian gardener who had created a very beautiful small garden right smack dab in the middle of one of the most impoverished areas of Haiti (you can see this photo on Michael's great gardening blog, The Gardener's Eye, by clicking here).

The photo got me thinking about what gardens really represent.  The best gardens don't come from a fat wallet, or a team of skilled manor-house gardeners, or from emulating the latest design craze seen in gardening magazines.  The best gardens are born of passion; they are an artistic expression of the gardener's desire to create their own little piece of paradise, no matter where they live, and they have little to do with preconceived notions or what the rest of the world thinks a garden should be.  There are few individuals who better illustrate this type of passionate gardening than Pearl Fryar.

Gordon Hayward

photo by Matthew Benson

For most of us, who struggle every day to better define our gardens, the art and practice of garden design can sometimes seem very arcane and beyond our reach.  And, as you read more and more books on the subject, you get the feeling that many garden designers are content to allow us to continue to suffer under this delusion. One who isn't, is Gordon Hayward.  It's very clear that his single professional mission in life, in his practice with his clients, in the books that he writes, and in the lectures that he gives, is to impart knowledge, not stand guard over it.  Education is the golden thread that runs through all of his work.