A Garden Miscellany

Staubach, Suzanne. A Garden Miscellany: An Illustrated Guide to the Elements of the Garden. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 2019.

This book is a dictionary of types of gardens, design considerations, and features found in gardens. While it does not provide in-depth information on each, enough is present to satisfy most readers. A bibliography listing additional resources appears in the back, providing opportunities for those interest to gain further knowledge. The illustrations by Julia Yellow provide whimsy and delight for readers and perfectly accompany the book. I received an advance electronic copy through NetGalley with the expectation of an honest review.

Gardenlust

Woods, Christopher. Gardenlust: A Botanical Tour of the World's Best New Gardens. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 2018.

Readers of this volume encounter a wonderful armchair tour of some of the world's more recent but wonderful gardens. Each entry includes a little about the garden and its creator in narrative form as well as photos. Some gardens received more extensive treatment than others. On the list:

North America: Sunnylands Center and Gardens, Rancho Mirage, California; The Garden of Flowing Fragrance, Huntington Botanical Garden, San Marino, California; The Park, Las Vegas, Nevada; Chihuly Gardens and Glass, Seattle, Washington; Mordecai Children's Garden, Denver Botanical Garden, Denver, Colorado; Federal Twist, Stockton, New Jersey; Junto Farm, Hudson Valley, New York; Naples Botanical Garden, Naples, Florida; Vallarta Botanical Garden, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Central America and the Caribbean: Los Elementos, Dominical, Costa Rica; Golden Rock Inn, Nevis, West Indies.

South America: Jardin de Salvias, Mar del Plata, Argentina; Juan Grimm Gardens, Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina; Parque Explorador Quilapilun, Colina, Chile.

Europe: Iuri Chagas Gardens, The Algarve, Portugal; Quinta da Granja, Miranda do Corvo, Portugal; Jardins de la Rambla de Sants, Barcelona, Spain; Parc Clichy-Batignolles/Martin Luther King, Paris, France; Camel Quarry House, Cornwall, United Kingdom; Crossrail Station Roof Garden, London, United Kingdom; Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, United Kingdom; Orpheus, at Boughton House, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom; The Alnwick Garden, Northumberland, United Kingdom; Carrie Preston's Gardens, The Netherlands; The Tree Museum, Rapperswil, Switzerland; Landschaftspark, Duisburg-Nord, Germany; Peter Korn's Garden, Eskilsby, Sweden.

Africa and the Arabian Peninsula: A Garden of Shape and Light, Marrakech, Morocco; The Aloe Farm, Hartbeespoort, South Africa; The Miracle Garden, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Al Barari, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Oman Botanic Garden, Al Khoud, Oman.

India and Southeast Asia: The Garden of Five Senses, Said-ul-Azaib, Delhi, India; 137 Pillars House, Chiang Mai, Thailand; Gardens by the Bay and Parkroyal Hotel, Singapore; Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden, Luang Prabang, Laos; Made Wijaya's Gardens, Bali, Indonesia.

Asia: Xi'an Expo Park, Xi'an, China; Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai, China; Ichigaya Forest, Tokyo, Japan; Tokachi Millennium Forest, Hokkaido, Japan.

Australia and New Zealand: Geelong Botanic Gardens, Geelong, Victoria, Australia; The Australian Garden, Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, Victoria, Australia; One Central Park, Sydney, Australia; Barangaroo Headland Park, Sydney, Australia; Rose Bay, Sydney, Australia; Gibbs Farm, Makarau, North Island, New Zealand; Paripuma, Blenheim, South Island, New Zealand; Fishermans Bay Garden, Long Bay, South Island, New Zealand.

I visited Chihuly Gardens when I visited Seattle a couple of summers ago. I realistically might make it to no more than a handful of the remaining ones in my lifetime. I really loved both gardens on South Island in New Zealand as they sported gorgeous ocean views. One of the South American gardens did also. While I thought a few of the gardens were not that pretty, the majority were captivating. Woods' choices omitted far too many countries. For example, why was no garden from Canada included? Italy? Russia? I'm not up on the latest and greatest in world gardens, but I'm sure each of these countries had something to offer.

I enjoyed my armchair tour and look forward to possible future visits to a few of these. I received an advance review electronic copy of the book from NetGalley with the expectation of an honest review.

The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables

Reid, Catherine. The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables: the Enchanting Island that Inspired L. M. Montgomery. Kerry Michaels, photographer. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 2018.

Catherine Reid and Kerry Michaels produced a book which Anne of Green Gables enthusiasts everywhere will welcome. The book's focus is on the landscapes (gardens, woods, lakes, etc.) inspiring Montgomery's settings for the Anne series. Readers see the birch wood in varying seasons. They encounter gardens which inspired the Barry's garden of the books. They see the "Lake of Shining Waters." Gorgeous flower photographs appeal to the eye. The author includes excerpts from the books as she adds details. For academics the author's analysis needs improvement, but fans of the book will treasure the book anyway. Recommended for fans of the series.

Portland Japanese Gardens

I recently traveled to the Pacific Northwest. The main purpose of my trip was to attend and present at the Association of Christian Librarians Conference which was being held at George Fox University in Newberg, near Portland. Since I had never been to Oregon or Washington, I decided to stay a little longer to do some sight-seeing. It was difficult to pick and choose what to visit and what would have to wait for another trip in the future (if I ever make it back).

My plane landed around noon Pacific time so it was too early to check into the hotel. I decided to visit Portland Japanese Gardens first. I'll include a few photos I took there.

A pagoda-like statue

One of my favorite scenes.

Supposedly the most photographed tree in the garden.

Feeding time for the coy.

Lovely flowering plants.

Beautiful flowers.

Man-Made Waterfall

View of Mount Hood from the Garden.

That was actually my second glimpse of Mount Hood that day. The first was up close and personal from the plane as we flew over it en route to PDX.

I enjoyed my visit to the Portland Japanese Garden and encourage others to visit when in the area.

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens

Amy Kime Arner posted a link on Facebook today to an Associated Press article about the slave cabins on Magnolia Plantation. That reminded me of my visit to that plantation about four years ago. When I discovered that I had not placed pictures of my visit online, I decided that it was time to place a few on the blog.

Above: This is one of the slave cabins. I would love to see the restoration that they mentioned. Perhaps I'll be able to do that when NGS visits Charleston in 2011 if I don't make it there before then. More information is available on the Slave Cabin Restoration Project.
This is the plantation house. It was built before the Revolutionary War, according to the Web site. I don't recall how many prior houses the tour guides told us there had been, and I did not see that information on the Web site.
This was a swampy area that I seem to remember being near the slave cabins. It was beautiful. There were alligators sunning themselves on specially placed boards in the midst of these swampy spots.
This is along the Ashley River which borders the property. It's one of my favorite photos from the trip.
Since Magnolia Plantations has absolutely gorgeous gardens, I would be remiss not including a photo of some of the beautiful plants. I chose these lovely blooms.

Duke Gardens and Chapel

Boston Diary - June 10

Today was the first full day of conference. After breakfast at the hotel, we arrived on campus where we attended devotions and then the first keynote address by Dr. Em Claire Knowles of Simmons. After that, we had a business session, then lunch on campus (pizza), and our first round of presentations. Since I'm primarily in technical services, I went to the cataloging roundtable. After that we had "professional tours." I had signed up for "make your own tour." We went to the Boston Public Garden, Boston Common, and Old Granary Burial Ground rather than touring one of the libraries of the area.

Here are some gorgeous purple flowers that are in the public gardens. They look like oversized purple dandelions but they don't seem to blow quite like the dandelions.

Guess who was swimming?
The ugly duckling became a beautiful swan!
On the common is a tribute to football!
The frog pond with part of the city in the background.
This is the Tremont Temple.
A close-up of the top of Tremont Temple.
Old Granary Burial Ground. It dates back to 1660. This is just one of the gates.
One side of the ground.
Memorial to victims of the Boston Massacre, including Crispus Attucks.
John Hancock.

Paul Revere.
Paul's wife, Sarah Revere.
Mother Goose.
Samuel Adams.
I'm grateful to Charles Ewer for founding New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Ben Franklin's parents.
You just never know when you'll run into some other librarians in an old cemetery!


The spire of the Park Street Church (Congregational).

A view down Park Street.
We came back to Braintree and ate at Legal Seafood. This is the Summer Cape Cod dinner feature. It had lobster, scrod, smoked applewood bacon, and a corn sauce that had tomatoes. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Dessert was Boston Creme Pie!

Boston Diary - June 4

Today was a rainy day in Boston. Most of you know that I've now vowed to avoid breakfast here at the hotel, so I decided to give the Paramount a try. I knew from my research beforehand that it was one of the best places to eat breakfast in Boston. I had to walk through the Boston Public Garden to get there. Terry was bragging on his garden yesterday, but this one is just as spectacular in other ways. Here are a few pictures from this trip. I took a ton of them when I was here in September 2006 so I didn't snap quite as many today, especially since it was raining.

These swans were enjoying their little stay on the grass.

Make way for ducklings!

The real ducklings. There are three of them to the left of the bigger duck, but some of them were taking a dip so they are hard to see!

Look in the tree. What do you see? That little guy was enjoying that nut!

I love the buds!

What kind of tree is this?


My malted Belgian waffle with fresh fruit from the Paramount. It was absolutely wonderful!

I spent the morning researching at NEHGS. I utilized a few more Essex County records. Then I utilized some Grafton County, New Hampshire records including the towns of Plymouth and Hebron. I made a list of all the manuscripts that I knew that I'd want to look at in the afternoon. Most of what I discovered just reinforced what I already had.

Before long it was time for lunch. The last time I was in Boston I was only able to visit the gift shop at Cheers. I decided that it was time to really go "where everybody knows your name."

This was called Cliff's Cranberry something or other. It's a non-alcoholic drink made of cranberry, lime, and ice cream.
This was the Cheers Cheeseburger.

This, of course, was the bar area. (I think it was too early for Norm and Cliff to be there.)

Now, after lunch, I headed on back to NEHGS to hit the manuscript collection. I figured that it would take most of the afternoon, and it did take a good portion of it. Quite a few of the manuscripts were compiled genealogies done by others. Some did a better job than others. There were also some town records and some various other records that persons had transcribed in letters and such. After going through these, I went back up to the 6th floor reference room and told David Dearborn, the reference librarian, that I was working on a line with which I thought he was pretty familiar. I shared with him my Dearborn ancestry. He told me which of the larger manuscript collections that I'd avoided would be useful. Then he shared with me his research on my branch of the family. I, in turn, supplied him with some information on my immediate branch that he did not have. I went back to a table and read through his information which is well-documented.

A lot of the information that I need now is on microfilm which is LDS film. I will probably use some of it tomorrow, but I know that I can have access, even if it means a delay in receiving it through the local Family History Center.

I walked back to the hotel to put up my research before heading out for supper. Tonight's theme was Chinese (with a twist). I decided to hit Myers + Chang which is in the South End. I had read about it in two different publications that recommended it. This meant a new adventure for me. I took the Green line from Copley Square down to Boylston where I needed to transfer to the Silver Line (which is the bus). I took it to the E. Berkeley St. stop. My directions had said that this was the nearest stop. I thought that meant that I'd have to walk, but right there in front of me was the restaurant! I ordered Green Papaya Slaw for the dim sum and Chicken & Rapini Stirfry for the main dish. The slaw had 3 of those little spice indicators next to it. The stirfry had two of them.

This is the green papaya slaw. As you can see, green papaya is nothing like the fruit papaya. It was certainly a unique taste. It kind of grew on you, but the heat kept building as you ate it as well. By the way, if you are wondering, I did eat the entire meal with chopsticks!
These are some Chinese pickles that they brought out to me since I was a first-timer. I really only ate a few of the carrot ones, but I was glad they mostly tasted of vinegar and not dill.
This is the main course--chicken and rapini stirfry. It was quite tasty.
This was a ginger-lemon mini-custard that they gave you at the end to cleanse your palate. Very tasty!