This charming book for lovers of gardening and poetry is the first to explore Emily Dickinson's passion for plants. In addition to the gardens she tended, there are more than 400 references to flowers and botany in her poems, many of which she used as metaphors for God, the soul, sex, and herself. Filled with quotations from her poems and letters, this book follows a year in Emily Dickinson's gardens. Each chapter will describe a season in her flower garden, in the conservatory she tended and in the Amherst environs where she collected wildflowers and will include historical details about her life, emphasizing her horticultural interests. In addition, readers will learn how they can create an Emily Dickinson garden of their own through a portrait of the plants she used and advice and information, including plans, design ideas, plant sources, and growing tips.
Marta McDowell teaches at the New York Botanical Gardens. A frequent lecturer at local garden clubs and arboretums, including the Horticultural Society of New York and the Chautauqua Institution, her gardening articles have been published in the New York Times and Woman's Day.
