Two gardeners : Katharine S. White and Elizabeth Lawrence : a friendship in letters

by Katherine S. White

A legendary editor at The New Yorker during its first thirty-four years, Katharine S. White was also a great garden enthusiast. In March 1958 she began publishing her popular column, "Onward and Upward in the Garden." Her first column elicited loads of fan mail, but one letter in particular caught her attention. From Elizabeth Lawrence, a noted southern garden writer, it was filled with suggestions and encouragement. When Katharine wrote back her appreciation, she reported on her Maine garden and discussed the plants and books that interested her. Thus began a correspondence that would last for almost twenty years, until Katharine's death in 1977.

Two Gardeners is a collection of these luminous letters, edited and introduced by Emily Herring Wilson. The letters bring to life the unique epistolary friendship between two intelligent women, the "formidable" Mrs. White and the "shy" Miss Lawrence, both avid gardeners and readers, both at a stage of life when to make a new friend was rare when they first wrote to one another, Katharine was sixty-two, Elizabeth, fifty-four.

More than 150 letters went back and forth during the course of their correspondence, though Katharine and Elizabeth would meet face-to-face only once. Whether talking about gardens or books, friends or family, each held a special place in the other's life.

Illustrated with photographs of both Katharine White and Elizabeth Lawrence, their families, gardens, and houses, this book is a special treat for gardeners, literature lovers, and anyone who delights in reading about women's friendships.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Biography, Nature, Friendship

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir is a compilation of letters written by two note-worthy gardeners over the course of a twenty year friendship. Both women wrote gardening columns. Elizabeth Lawrence wrote for a North Carolina newspaper and Katherine White, living in Maine, not only wrote her gardening column for the New Yorker magazine but was the first fiction editor for The New Yorker and a driving force during it's inception and for many years thereafter. Katherine happens to have been the wife of E.B. White who appears now and again in this memoir. This book would appeal to anyone with an interest in gardening, but also to people interested in reading about the close friendship that developed over the many years of their correspondence. Think about your closest friends on Goodreads times 20 years of writing and discussing books and getting to know each other more personally.

[Melissa]

A book arrived yesterday that made me giddy. Scott saw me squealing over it and wanted to know what all the excitement was about. I tried to think how best to explain it to him.

“Okay, imagine that John Lennon and Elvis Presley were pen-pals. Say they had a lively correspondence, letters flying back and forth for years and years. Now imagine that this book is a collection of those letters.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Who are they really?”

I sighed happily. “Katharine White and Elizabeth Lawrence.”

Scott: “Um…?” But he knows me well. “Gardening?”

“Yes. Only my two favorite gardening writers EVER.”

(Post continues here.)

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book made me want to know more about Katharine S. White and Elizabeth Lawrence - their lives, their other writings, and their gardens. I love to read about gardens and gardeners. The stories behind the plants are one of the best parts of gardening!

Katharine S. White (wife of E.B. White – called “Andy”) was an editor at The New
Yorker, where she also wrote a garden column called “Onward and Upward in the
Garden.” One of her readers was Elizabeth Lawrence, a gardener herself, and writer of a
weekly garden column in the Charlotte, North Carolina newspaper The Charlotte
Observer. The two women began a correspondence when Elizabeth wrote to Katharine in
response to an “Onward and Upward” column, They quickly passed from addressing
each other as “Mrs. White” and “Miss Lawrence” to a first-name basis, and to a friendship
that lasted nearly twenty years, until Katharine’s death in 1977. Their letters are
interesting from a gardening perspective, of course, but are even more absorbing on a
personal level, with stories of family, friends, households, illnesses – and a peek into the
domestic life of the author of Charlotte’s Web, to boot! Of course, after reading
this collection of their letters, I have put on hold at the library a biography of Elizabeth
Lawrence (by Emily Herring Wilson, who edited this book), and Onward and Upward in
the Garden, which is a collection of Katharine S. White’s New Yorker columns.

[Rift Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The friendship that grew between these two women via flowers and letter writing is so beautiful and amazing to me. Even when a whole year passed between letters, the connection was still tangible. Something to aspire to, and also something that gives me hope for humanity.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hit a sweet spot for me. I loved both reading about gardening and seeing the friendship develop via letter between these two writers.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book, I'm not much of a gardener myself but I enjoy reading about gardening. I'll be reading more books about these two women.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emily Herring Wilson has done a superb job of researching, editing and presenting the long correspondence and deep friendship of Katherine White (editor, New Yorker) and Elizabeth Lawrence (southern gardener and writer) between 1958-1977. Katherine continued to correspond with E.B. White, Katherine's husband, until they both died in 1985. Setting aside a portion of the day for corresponding was an expected part of busy days for these 3 writers. I grieve the end of that era and how much poorer we'll be for the lack of these kinds of archives.

[Kathleen Woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a 4-star only b/c I don't understand all the gardening/plant references. That was part of the reason I picked up this book, hoping it would inspire me to make something of our tiny (and truly wild) backyard space. It didn't; I still find that project overwhelming, and hearing about the authors' efforts year after year didn't make it sound any more appealing to me.

However, what I found in this book is truly a in intimate story of "a friendship in letters." I felt like I knew both of them, and I looked forward to "receiving" the next letter. It fuels my efforts to continue to write actual letters -- not emails, not text messages -- to the people who are dear to me.

A lovely read.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of letters between two fascinating and intelligent women is a book I discovered while reading Onward and Upward In the Garden , a series of gardening reviews by Katharine White published in the New Yorker magazine starting in the late 1950's. As a result of the first article in the series, she began a correspondnace with garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence of North Carolina. Katharine White was the wife of EB White and a famed editor in her own right at the New Yorker for most of her life. Her correspondance with Lawrence went on for more then 30 years, developing and maturing gently, and provides a fascinating glimpse into not only the lives of these two women but a nostalgic portrait of an era long ago and the art of letter writing and correspondance. Both of these women were writers and their letters are as entertaining and eventful as any novel. If you are a gardener, then this book will hold even more interest for you. It is a lovely and thoughtful book. I read it each winter as I watch my own garden go to sleep , and I nurse it thru chapter by chapter as slowly as I possibly can into the Spring, trying to make the book last longer so it won't end too soon...but it inevitable does, and although I am delighted to see Spring, I am a bit sad to have to say goodbye to these two women, but know their letters are there for me to read again when the first snow starts to fall again, and I know that I will read Two Gardeners once more.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizabeth first wrote to Katharine in 1958 when they were 50+ and 60+ years old. That started a 20-year letter correspondence between two busy writers (Katharine an editor for "The New Yorker" with a farm in Maine, Elizabeth a North Carolina gardening columnist and author) with a passion for tending blooming things. They exchanged information on their gardens in all seasons, families, health issues, research sources and writing-in-progress. Mostly, they shared a genuine respect and appreciation for each other, constantly offering praise and encouragement as aging wracked their bodies but not their intellects. A beautiful story of friendship.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a beautiful portrayal of friendship. Real letters and real people. I loved learning about plants as well. I wasn't sure about the book as I started, but found it one I didn't want to put down. I felt like I found two friends.

[Marian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. A real treasure! I soon felt like Katharine and Elizabeth were dear friends and was so sad when the book ended, and I had no new letters to look forward to. Thank you Emily for giving us this book.

[anita Lauricella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book of letters between two remarkable women; Katharine S White and Elizabeth Lawrence. Their correspondence over twenty years tells the story of their lives and their passion for all things gardening. They started trading gardening tips and plants in 1958. As their friendship develops, the letters become as much about gardens as supporting each other as writers. And later, as two women struggling with the impact of aging on their ability to continue to write and garden. I started reading these letters in February 2021. They became part of my daily morning ritual while watching the snow recede in my yard, and plans for my garden started to take shape. Now that I have finished, I will miss their conversations in the morning. I would recommend this book to garden fans and anyone who wants a read to bring them into a gentle and poignant conversation between two amazing women.

[Evonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not for everyone: it moves as slowly as the most mundane things about life tend to do. There is no real 'arc' to the plotline; indeed, there may be no plotline.

But if you are interested in gardens, particularly flower gardens, you will find the letters between these two women informative.

More significantly, if you are interested in friendship, and the poignancy of shared interests and mutual care, you might be interested in following the evolution of the friendship between these two intelligent, independent, and formidable souls.

I kept thinking, "All this between them was going on while I was attending elementary school, and pulling weeds in my mother's pea patch, and learning to connect to the soil."

Like I said, I enjoyed the book. Quite a bit. But it's not got a wide readership for a reason.

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely book that reveals the deepening of a long-distance friendship that endured over several decades and despite the women only meeting once. What I loved about it was not just the depth of the gardening knowledge shown by the 2 women, but the extraneous details of each of their lives. At the end of the book you feel you know both women and are sad they are no longer writing. I disagree with whoever compiled the letters (name escapes me) that their one meeting was strained or awkward. I think they both realized that their friendship didn't need physical presence.
I miss such correspondence. I'm here to tell you that nobody is ever going to tie your emails or texts up in a ribbon or sigh over them, while reminiscing.

[Jo Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who loves literature, writing letters, friendships, gardening, will love this book...in fact, I'd say you don't even need to love gardening to love it! This book is about a 20 year correspondence between Katherine White (E.B. White's wife), and Elizabeth Lawrence. The letters reveal a growing love of flowers, etc., but also a growing caring between these 2 strong women, who write about their gardens, but oh-so-much more: their children, husbands, social lives, struggles, aging, grandchildren, etc. There are parts that made me laugh out loud, and parts that made my heart hurt. . This book arrived in the mail "out of nowhere" from a dear correspondent/friend...thank you...I loved it!

[Jennifer Fitzpatrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katharine White, New Yorker gardening column editor of ‘Onward and Upward’ and wife of EB White, and Elizabeth Lawrence, a southern writer for the weekly The Charlotte Observer became friends through correspondence from 1958 - 1977, over 150 letters. This lovely collection of their letters portrays the growth and depth of their friendship while covering many other areas of life. I took nearly a year to read it, enjoying the gardening tidbits, the insights into EB and Katharine’s life, the family tidbits, the weather notes, and the sharing of general “goings on”. A gardener’s good read.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful book. Reading the almost twenty years of correspondence between Katharine S. White, the legendary New Yorker editor, and also wife of E. B. White, and North Carolina southern garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence, is to step deep into the contrasting seasons of Maine and North Carolina, the plants, the love of gardening and the writing about gardens these two brilliant woman shared from 1958 to 1977. They also shared their lives, concerns, health issues and were each other’s best routing squads. It is a joy to read.

[Tamara Willems · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book so much, and indeed the author's presentation here.
Two quite remarkable and very different women in their own right, developed a mutual respect and sustaining friendship through the lost art of letter writing.
Sharing their personal struggles with family life and aging, while nurturing a deeper kindness through their love of gardening and writing for print.
A really wonderful book that draws you in for a lovely stroll through the garden of two lovely, lovely ladies.

[Bjipson · Rating 4 out of 5]

These two extraordinary writers and gardeners wrote letters to each other from 1958 until Katharine White died in 1977. The letters were preserved and are gathered here, letting the reader eavesdrop on the conversation -- mostly focusing on their gardens, one in Maine, the other in North Carolina, but also on their published writings and on their health. Although they only met in person once, they clearly shared interests, intelligence, and hence a warm friendship.
Really delightful.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this. Both women are incredibly impressive and their voices come through so strongly, you really do feel like you get to know them. The editor did an excellent job, I'm sure a huge amount of work went into cleaning up the nitty-gritty details to make this read so smoothly and naturally. A top read of the year so far.

[Ramona · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very detailed and cited book, with a few black and white photos, of two well-known women, in their fields. White, the wife of writer, E.B. White, and editor for the New Yorker magazine, and Lawrence, an avid gardener and writer for gardening articles. Correspondence letters cover many years, but they only meet once. A fine addition for people who collect this type of non-fiction.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book made up of the correspondence between two female gardeners/writers. Through their letters we are able to see their friendship grow. Really fascinating and heart-warming, with loads of interesting gardening information. Just a beautiful book.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming. And made me so nostalgic for correspondence by post when it could be months between updates (and the delight of a letter in the mail) instead of a never ending scroll in an ugly ad-covered UI.

[Bless Your Memory · Rating 5 out of 5]

2 extraordinary garden ✍️ writers corresponding for over 20 years! One is the wife of E. B. White (Charlottes Web) Katherine and Elizabeth forged a tremendous friendship as they encouraged each other with their writing projects.

[Cassandra]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/34868...

[carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful.

[Lanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one.

[Daniela Sorgente · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really a pleasant read. It is about the correspondence in the 60s and the 70s between two women whose common passione was gardening: Katharine, who writes a gardening column for The New Yorker, and Elizabeth, who is a garden architect, but for her it is more a hobby than a profession. The two women live in the United States but in different countries, and in the entire time of their correspondence they meet only once. Their lives are very different: Katharine is married and has children and grandchildren, Elizabeth lives with her sick mother. A friendship was born between them that lasted twenty years, until Katharine's death. In addition to the biographical part, i.e. reading about the little things of the everyday life of two women from sixty years ago, what I liked most about this book was reading about flowers, blooms, plant care, and imagining gardens; it was really relaxing. The book has many photographs, which is something I always really like, although unfortunately they are in black and white and therefore do not do justice to the gardens of the two friends.

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[Books, books, and books · Rating 3 out of 5]

sweet back and forth letters between two gardeners.