Old Time Gardens

by Alice Morse Earle, Virginia Lopez Begg (Introduction)

Originally published in 1901, Old Time Gardens by Alice Morse Earle was one of the most popular and influential garden books of the early twentieth century―and one of the first to be extensively illustrated with photographs. With the recent revival of interest in historic gardens and heirloom plants, Old Time Gardens has once again become a valued, if hard to find, resource for gardeners and landscape designers, and historians. This new edition, featuring an introduction by landscape historian Virginia Lopez Begg, makes this classic work available to a new generation of readers. Old Time Gardens celebrates the plants and garden designs of early America. Distinguished by its inviting style, wealth of detailed information about plants, design and garden ornaments, and captivating descriptions and photographs of historic gardens, the book is still regularly cited in books and magazine articles, and recommended on web sites. Earle’s advocacy of historic garden designs was rooted in her strong sense of the garden as a place to live in, and to interact with nature, family and friends, according to Begg. For Earle, the significance of gardens lay not just in their design and plants, but also in their association with the people who cultivated and used them. Accessible, informative, inspiring, and lavishly illustrated, this classic work is still a valuable resource for gardeners, landscape designers, and an essential volume for garden historians.

536 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1968

About the author

Alice Morse Earle was an American historian and author from Worcester, Massachusetts. She was christened Mary Alice by her parents Edwin Morse and Abby Mason Clary. On 15 April 1874, she married Henry Earle of New York, changing her name from Mary Alice Morse to Alice Morse Earle. Her writings, beginning in 1890, focussed on small sociological details rather than grand details, and thus are invaluable for modern sociologists. She wrote a number of books on colonial America (and especially the New England region) such as Curious Punishments of Bygone Days. She was a passenger aboard the RMS Republic when, while in a dense fog, that ship collided with the SS Florida. During the transfer of passengers, Alice fell into the water. Her near drowning in 1909 off the coast of Nantucket during this abortive trip to Egypt weakened her health sufficiently that she died two years later, in Hempstead, Long Island.

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I had black and white pictures... which color would of been nice... it was a huge book... which I had to finish.. because so many of the chapters were of things I am intereted in.... I wish I had a book like this in me to write