copyright Rob Cardillo, image provided by Gibbs Smith
Private Gardens of Philadelphia, text by Nicole Juday, photography by Rob Cardillo
that offers a glimpse of 21 contemporary private gardens in the Philadelphia region.
.
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Private Gardens of Philadelphia, a book review
by Nicole Juday, photography by Rob Cardillo
Wednesday, 7 August 2024
I know not what it is about the Delaware Valley region that it can offer such splendid gardens. Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, the once upon a time private garden of the du Ponts. Chanticleer, in Wayne, once the home and gardens of the Rosengarten estate. Morris Arboretum and Gardens of the University of Pennsylvania, the official arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
It is true that there are private gardens that open to visitors through the Garden Conservancy. They are open for just a day here or there. Which is why I am delighted to learn of lovely new book
copyright Rob Cardillo, image provided by Gibbs Smith
Private Gardens of Philadelphia, text by Nicole Juday, photography by Rob Cardillo
that offers a glimpse of 21 contemporary private gardens in the Philadelphia region.
The author, Nicole Juday, begins with a multi-page discussion of the region's attributes: soil, ecology, and history - from William Penn through the World Wars and on to today. Some gardens are relatively modest. Others are indeed worthy of the term, "estate." She points out that estate gardening on the scale of these gardens is a serious commitment of time, labor, financial costs. Challenges of weather events, degradation of previous owners, invasive plants and deer . . . As Rudyard Kipling wrote, 'gardens are not made by singing:—“Oh, how beautiful!” and sitting in the shade'
On to the gardens. Each is given a few words as a title and its location. Ten to 20 pages of text and photographs, everything from single to double page spread and several images to a page. For, as Apicius, the 1st Century Roman gourmand who purportedly coined the phrase “We eat first with our eyes.” As we vicariously "visit" the gardens through the pages of this book, Rob Cardillo's images are food for the eye, a pleasing visual experience to see these especially attractive and pleasing gardens filled with lovely plants arranged with thought and grown with care.
Each of the gardens could be a separate little book, with all of them slipcased. But then they would be small, rather than this elegant coffee table edition. Ah well. Here are snippets, just three, a glimpse of what you will find in these pages.
Ancestors and Architects, Chestnut Hill
Opening in 1894 with the story of newlywed couple gifted with the bride's father presenting the happy couple with 50 acres and funds to build an estate. The Olmstead brothers became involved a decade or so later. Today there's stonework, statuary, beautiful gardens.
copyright Rob Cardillo, image provided by Gibbs Smith
A gazebo of beautifully well-fitted stonework with a tapestry of shade loving foliage plants.
God is in the Details. Rydal
Call it California modernism, a one story house designed by Arthur White in 1951, with panels as bright and colorful as Mondrian paintings. Less than an acre, there are distinct garden spaces there plants are used to harmonize with building and sculptures.
copyright Rob Cardillo, image provided by Gibbs Smith
A boulder split, separated, set with a stone slab becomes a bench. A vivid red
pillow adds a pop of color, mimics one of the house panels and also the scarlet
Monarda didyma, widely used in the gardens and popular with hummingbirds.
copyright Rob Cardillo, image provided by Gibbs Smith
A shallow reflecting pool, only inches deep, a mirrorlike surface nearby
the house. Drylaid stones, an easy transition to step from here to there.
Common Ground. Mount Airy
A ceramicist in winter, in summer a gardener, her corner property across from a school must surely intrigue everyone who passes by. Her roots go back to her grandmother in the rural South. Hands in the dirt whether soil or clay.
copyright Rob Cardillo, image provided by Gibbs Smith
Mounted on a stucco wall, a sinuous structure holds small pots of variegated English ivy.
As you might expect, while most images are of lush flowers and greenery of summer, it is clear, paging through the book again and again, that the stunning photography presenting these gardens is the result of multiple visits. Light changes. There are images of spring flowering trees, others of autumn foliage, and also winter snow. All offer clarity. Some are magical: a double page spread of evening fireflies in the meadow of A Past With A Pedigree, sunlight streaming through a specimen tree of Ancestors and Architects parklike setting.
I would have liked a map of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania region with the location of each garden indicated.
There are ideas to be considered and brought home to each reader's garden.
Private Gardens of Philadelphia
by Nicole Juday
photography by Rob Cardillo
published by Gibbs-Smith, hard cover, $60.00
ISBN: 978-1-4236-6393-5
A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher
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