Private Edens: Beautiful Country Gardens

by Jack Staub

Overview

“An intimate tour of more than twenty stunning private gardens in Virginia, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.”—Sophisticated Living
 
In this book, garden design expert Jack Staub offers a tour of private country paradises in the Eastern United States boasting remarkable plant palettes and combinations. Anyone can find inspiration in these oases of beauty nestled in towns including Hudson, New York; Middleburg, Virginia; and Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.
 
From a romantic garden with cottagey plantings that pays homage to the best of English garden vernacular to a splendid Eden where Maryland countryside meets Himalayan serenity, these garden paradises stand alone on their own terms and offer us examples of what we can all achieve with a modicum of respect, partnership, and imagination.
 
“Sumptuous photographs.”—The New York Times Book Review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423621096
Publisher:	Smith, Gibbs Publisher
Publication date:	05/29/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	335,885
File size:	26 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Jack Staub is one of the country's leading experts on fruit and vegetable gardening. He frequently lectures on the subject, and his articles have appeared in numerous magazines and print publications, including Country Living, Fine Gardening, and The New York Times. He is also a featured guest on NPR. You can learn more about Jack and Hortulus Farms at http://hortulusfarmdiary.blogspot.com.

Rob Cardillo has been photographing gardens, plants, and the people that tend them for over twenty years. His work appears regularly in books, magazines, and advertisements. You can see more of his award-winning photography at www.robcardillo.com.

Read an Excerpt

The owner sums it up herself: “Can there be a better feeling than walking around one’s garden after the day’s work is done? Everyday when I ride my horse, I always finish my ride with a walk around the farm. I check the orchard, the vegetable gardens, the forest, the backside of the lilac lair. I always wonder if Thomas Jefferson felt the same joy I feel when he rode around Monticello. I can see the Hudson Highlands from the upper trail at the back of our property,
and when I walk through the orchard, I always grab a peach or a plum or an apple. Later in the day, it is likely that I will take a walk around the garden rooms. I know every plant and shrub—it is like greeting old friends. Sometimes I walk with a yellow pad to make notes of what needs to be done or changed. When I am tired or weary, I leave the pad on my desk and just enjoy the peace.” Surely we could all use a dose of that.

Table of Contents

Preface 6

Passion for Plants 9 Marshall, Virginia

Feeding the Soul 21 North Salem, New York

Water Fall 33 Lakeville, Connecticut

Stewards to History 45 Aldie, Virginia

One and One Make One 57 Hudson, New York

An Educator’s Eye 69 Southbury, Connecticut

Living Rooms 81 Potomac, Maryland

Sense of Place 93 Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania

A New Perspective 105 New Preston, Connecticut

Harmonious Convergence 117 Cockeysville, Maryland

Divine Inspiration 133 Washington, Connecticut

Northern Exposure 145 Canaan, New York

Grace Land 157 Middleburg, Virginia

Revival Meeting 169 Lewisboro, New York

An American Story 181 Wrightstown, Pennsylvania

Family Connection 193 Peapack, New Jersey

Manor Reborn 203 Orange, Virginia

One Woman, One Wilderness 215 Bedford Hills, New York

Pilgrim’s Progress 225 Ashley Falls, Massachusetts

Meadow Lark 235 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Developing Interest 245 St. Davids, Pennsylvania

Editorial Reviews

This is a book packed with stupendous vistas, wildflower meadows, boxwood-bordered garden "rooms" and water features seemingly immune to pond scum. Even the animals look buffed to a high sheen in the perfect light.

The New York Times Book Review - Alida Becker

Another kind of curiosity — sneaking a peek at finely tended properties from the luxury bracket of the real estate listings — can be satisfied in Jack Staub’s PRIVATE EDENS: Beautiful Country Gardens (Gibbs Smith, $50). Not many of us are able to emulate the owner of the magnificent “farm” in North Salem, N.Y., who finishes her daily horseback ride with a walk to “check the orchard, the vegetable gardens, the forest, the backside of the lilac lair.” But thanks to Rob Cardillo’s sumptuous photographs, we can lean over the fence and commune with her cows, even see that her blueberries are starting to ripen. This is a book packed with stupendous vistas, wildflower meadows, boxwood-bordered garden “rooms” and water features seemingly immune to pond scum. Even the animals look buffed to a high sheen in the perfect light.

New York Times Book Review - Alida Becker

In his new book, horticulturalist and garden writer Jack Staub gives readers a glimpse into a world of rarely seen, idyllic gardens.

Who better than Horticulturealist Jack Stuab to write a book on secret gardens? As the owner of the hundred-acre farmstead Hortulus Farm Nursery & Gardens with Renny Reynolds, Staub certainly knows about private Edens firsthand.

Private Edens: Beautiful Country Gardens is a lavishly photographed book that highlights personal country gardens primarily in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic states. Beatuifully depicted here are five New York gardens, two from Maryland, one from New Jersey, and four from Pennsykvania, Connecticut, and Virginia.

Each gardens is unique and reflects the owner's vision and plant material completementary to its particular zone. Staub often relies on the owner's own words to transport readers to the individual special site. We learn what each property was originally like, how it has been enhanced and amended, and the owner's dream of what is to come. These gardens are all very well suited to their vernacular, architecture, and individual topography. In every garden is a wonderful balance between nature and design. Trees are vital to all of these gardens, several of which have their own small orchards of assorted fruit trees.

One of my favorite gardens featured in Private Edens is Oak Hill in Aldie, Virginia. Oak Hill is a private reside not open to the public. James Monroe inherited the land from hin uncle, and Thomas Jefferson designed the home for Monroe in 1820. When Monroe retired from his second term in office as President of the United States, he lived at Oak Hill until moving to NEw York to reside with his daughter at the end of his life.

This imposing brick home has an extraordinary Doric colonnade set on high foundation that overlooks the garden and more that a thousand acres of rolling Virginia countryside. Huge boxwoods and an allee of mature trees generously frame the handsome, redbrick facade. Just looking at the photograps of this hime and garden makes my heart pine for Virginia.

Private Edens is a gorgeous resource. It offers terrific ideas for combining plant material, working in conjunction with steep slopes, or blocking undesirable views. The varieties of handsome wooden fencing, stone terraces, and walls for dining and solace are also inspiring. Treat yourself to this extraordinary book and enhance your own Eden.

Flower Magazine - Susan S Elliott

A passionate edible gardener and locavore advocate, Jack Staub takes readers on an intimate tour of more than twenty stunning private gardens in Virginia, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

Sophisticated Living