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The photographs are stunning as you would expect.\u00a0 But they also tell stories.\u00a0 This can be a gardener peeking through foliage, another resting in a hammock while playing with a frisky cat, or the borrowed landscape of a meadow, distant forest, and lone hiker on a two-page, full bleed spread.<\/p>\n
The text, both as an introduction to each chapter, and as caption to the photographs, was the real surprise.\u00a0 Wynja and Forkner create a lively discourse with their subjects, teasing out little snippets of story that make you want to know the gardeners, not just their gardens.<\/p>\n
For long-time NHS members, some of these gardeners will be familiar.\u00a0 Most poignant is the chapter about the late Pat Riehl, former president of NHS, who with her husband Walt established a stumpery and fern garden on Vashon Island.\u00a0 Gillian Mathews also has a long history with the NHS, and her cozy garden makes you want to stop in for tea \u2013 or maybe a glass of wine.<\/p>\n
Ann Amato\u2019s exuberant garden blurs the distinction between indoors and out with over five hundred houseplants, many spending their summers outside.\u00a0 There is vibrant plant energy in almost every space from kitchen to bathroom to basement.\u00a0 At the time of this writing (early August 2025), I\u2019m looking forward to her upcoming NHS webinar on hardy begonias.<\/p>\n
Wynja\u2019s selection of this and other overflowing gardens is understandable after seeing her own home in the final chapter.\u00a0 Having a \u201cneed for visual stimulation,\u201d she collects foliage plants (only a few with flowers), many pots (some intended for that purpose, while others not), and the many, many tools of the gardener.\u00a0 As described in one caption, this is \u201ccramscaping!\u201d<\/p>\n
Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on August 12, 2025<\/p>\n
Published in\u00a0Garden Notes: Northwest Horticultural Society<\/em>, Fall 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Meet the Board tours have been a mainstay of the NHS summer for many years.\u00a0 Private gardens showcase the passion and dedication of their creators, often including unusual quirks of interests. Capturing this fervor and the distinctive visions of several Washington and Oregon gardens is The Spirited Garden: Creative Private Retreats.\u00a0 Photographed by Doreen L. Wynja, and written with Lorene Edwards Forkner, this is one of the most engaging private garden tour books I\u2019ve seen. The photographs are stunning as…<\/p>\n