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Clyde Wachsberger became an avid gardener in his mid-30s after acquiring a small house and property at the eastern tip of Long Island, New York.\u00a0 While the garden was his passion, it was a lonely pursuit and he longed to share it with someone.\u00a0 However, his efforts to find a relationship with another man, \u201ca friend who shared my deepest yearning to be someone special for someone special,\u201d were not successful.<\/p>\n
Some years later, and by a remarkable chance with a misplaced personal ad, he connected with Charles Dean, a ma\u00eetre d\u2019h\u00f4tel at a high end Manhattan restaurant.\u00a0 Sparked by their mutual interests and attraction, they quickly established a relationship, much of it built around the same home and garden they now shared named Adworthy House, celebrating their meeting.<\/p>\n
They were great experimenters and always eager to try new plants, pushing the limits of their climate zone and indulging in romantic fantasies of tropical flora.\u00a0 Winter reading of nursery catalogs was a special fascination.\u00a0 Together they edited an anthology entitled \u201cOf Leaf and Flower: Stories and Poems for Gardeners (2001), in part to \u201cexplain the profound passions and wild obsessions that motivate gardeners.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sadly, Dean and Wachsberger\u2019s time together was limited to about 15 years.\u00a0 Wachsberger developed cancer, but before it took his life, he wrote and illustrated a heartfelt memoir, \u201cInto the Garden with Charles<\/a>\u201d (2012).\u00a0 While the author did not minimize the story of his disease, his writing focuses on the strength he found in both the garden and his loved ones.<\/p>\n While the after story is sad, this is an upbeat book about the joy of optimism found in a love of plants, and in the often whacky stories of family, close friends, and a faithful, fuzzy mop of a dog.\u00a0 The plants are pets, too, often with personal names and always cherished, until they try to smother or overrun everything else.\u00a0 Gardeners everywhere will understand.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reviewed by Brian Thompson in the Fall 2022 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Clyde Wachsberger became an avid gardener in his mid-30s after acquiring a small house and property at the eastern tip of Long Island, New York.\u00a0 While the garden was his passion, it was a lonely pursuit and he longed to share it with someone.\u00a0 However, his efforts to find a relationship with another man, \u201ca friend who shared my deepest yearning to be someone special for someone special,\u201d were not successful. Some years later, and by a remarkable chance with…<\/p>\n