Perfectly Delightful: The Life and Gardens of Harvey Ladew

Maryland has a unique treasure in the form of the Ladew Topiary Gardens. Harvey S. Ladew (1887-1976), originally from New York, came to Maryland looking for more room to fox-hut as Long Island became built up. He bought a farm and laid out 22 acres of very distinctive gardens, including such unusual features as "room" gardens and of course, the extensive, often whimsical topiary. Ladew designed and did a great deal of the actual gardening himself. Wishing to preserve his work, towards the end of his life, he and his friends created a foundation to maintain the gardens. I am not the sort of person who watches Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous or reads society pages, so I must admit that I found Ladew's life somewhat dull. Admittedly, if I had inherited the kind of money that he did, I don't think that I would have become a wage-slave either, but drifting around the world going to lots of good parties, while undoubtedly a lot of fun for Ladew, doesn't make for interesting reading, in my opinion. There are, however, lots of people who do follow the rich and famous, so this may all be very entertaining for them to read about Ladew palling around with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Noel Coward, and various others aristocrats and socialites. The biography is generally very laudatory, though I must say that I wouldn't have been interested in second-guessing whether or not he should have fox-hunted, etc. The book is beautifully done. There is a section of color plates, and an abundance of black and white pictures scattered throughout the text. There are abundant notes, and the section is laid out so that it is easy to match the reference in the text to the corresponding notes. Explanatory notes are included with the bibliographic. There is also an index.