Book Chatterings at Chestnut Hill

       

                 I picked this book up by chance at the local Library for $1.00  the cover was attractive and I liked the name and description  Embroidered Ground by Page Dickey.  I really had no idea what it would be like.  I was not to far into it and realized that I had indeed read her first book and still owned it, Duck Hill Journal.  Page Dickey lives in "UpstateNY"  meaning in this case outside of NYC and many years back established her garden Duck Hill as she calls it. The first book Chronicles that time frame.
              This second  book delightfully written in small readable chapters of 2-4 pages  looks at the the aging of the garden or shall we say the maturing. There is wonderful wisdom about many things - from plants to light to watering to change- lots of change and how to relate to it both in the garden and in life.  I have had gardens here at Chestnut Hill for 26 years now- some have come and gone, some remain, others are still in my dreams. There were many things I learned and that I could relate to or implement because of reading this book.  If you really love gardens and outdoors then I think you would like this book.  I do not think you have to read the first book first as they can hold up independently.

" In earliest Spring, when the air is still chill and the garden beds around the house  are damp and slow to wake, this patch of woodland is alive with small happenings that thrill us.  The witch Hazels are studded with yellow, and snowdrops flower beneath them and all along the paths, mostly the ordinary . . ."  Pg 17

"We don't use paths enough in American gardens.  Of course we all have a path from the garage, or parking area, to the kitchen door, and usually a more formal but less used path to the front door.  But we don't take advantage of paths sufficiently in our gardens or along the perimeters of our properties to suggest a journey , an adventure" pg.37

" My bouquets are, in essence, a reflection of my garden, a mixture of branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits in a style that is structured  and yet loose, relaxed and a little wild.  Making them is one of my favorite occupations.  When I put together a bouquet for our house, I think in a similar fashion as I might when plotting a garden."  pg. 179