Color in My Garden: An American Gardener's Palette

"Color in my Garden" by Louise Beebe Wilder was first published in 1918. Wilder wrote a number of books that made her America's answer to England's Miss Jekyll. Where Miss Jekyll informed the landed gentry, Mrs. Wilder informed the less landed Yankees. This book covers a year in the life of her garden Balderbrae--a summer home she and her husband owned and developed in New York state. Although a book written in 1918 might strike one as non-relevant to modern homeowners with smaller grounds, it is not. "Color in My Garden" still resonates with wonderful ideas.Mrs. Wilder was an artist who created three-dimensional art with live plants of varying colors, textures, heights, and scents. She not only had an esthetic sensibility, she was a horticulturalist who understood the nature of her medium. Her descriptions of plants and her garden designs are still relevant. Many of her ideas have been copied--over and over--but most of the copies are not as striking as the original.Mrs. Wilder believed lighting was a critical element of garden beauty. She was one of the first persons to develop a white garden and a scented garden for moonlight nights. She also developed gardens that looked best at high noon in summer. She understood that light changes all year as well as all day, and that even moonlight varies with the seasons. Some of her plant combinations included Lillies and Irises, Hollyhocks and Delphinium, and Red Poppies and White Valarian. Since her grounds consisted of many plots, one could replicate a particular beds in a small yard. I have planted Red Poppies with White Yarrow in a small urban garden. Lately, I've read many articles and pieces describing garden thugs--a term I first saw in Allen Lacey's "Garden in Autumn." Mrs. Wilder called them outlaws many years ago. I would have given this book 5 stars, but the illustrations are not terrific--they're pretty, but are watercolors that may disappoint the snapshot-camera-loving reader.