 Winter is a time for gardener's dreams - extending the imagination in time and color and hope and opportunity. Gardens are about believing in the future and the benefits of labor. If you don't have a garden, get one. Even a paper cup and a geranium seed will do in a pinch. Gardens are full of lessons in patience, humility and the power of natural forces. This is the best book for understanding your own feelings about a landscape that I've ever read. Julie Moir Messervy has broken the landscape down into seven archetypal landforms that are likely to evoke memories of favorite places. The beautiful photographs by Sam Abell and the vivid descriptions are like a launching pad for your own thoughts about the green spaces around you. This book was winner of the 1996 Quill and Trowel Award from the Garden Writers Association of America.
We also admire Julie Moir Messervy for participating in Yo Yo Ma's series "Inspired by Bach" where they work together to battle bureaucracy to create an urban music garden based on her artistic interpretation of Bach's Suite No. 1 for Unaccompanied Cello. Regrettably, Boston was not sensitive enough to allow the project to be built at Government Center, which is still only an uninspiring field of bricks and concrete to be ignored on the way to Faneuil Hall. If we want to experience the Music Garden in person, we'll have to travel to Toronto. In the meantime we can be content to admire her Japanese Lantern in Boston's Public Garden. |
