Nutty About Plants: Founding Gardeners

by Janet Woody, Librarian, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

Some days I think I have gone around the bend over plants.  I’d rather tinker with plants in my yard than do just about anything else.  I just finished reading Founding Gardeners and boy, these guys were truly over the top when it came to their love for plants.  The gardeners covered in this book are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Adams.  Each one extensively landscaped and then re-landscaped his grounds, constantly adding and sharing plants, visiting gardens and nurseries whenever possible — it’s just amazing that they had time to found a country.  Andrea Wulf, author of The Brother Gardeners, has done a thorough job assembling a mountain of details about each man’s desire to create a paradise on earth.   Our botanical book club will be discussing this book at its Friday, June 10 meeting, from 11 a.m. until noon in the Lora Robins Library Reading Room.  And if you hurry (and you’re a garden member), you can check out the library’s copy of Founding Gardeners.