Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Iconic Poet by Marta McDowell

“A visual treat as well as a literary one…for gardeners and garden lovers, connoisseurs of botanical illustration, and those who seek a deeper understanding of the life and work of Emily Dickinson.” —The Wall Street Journal “Offers an excuse (if one is necessary) to linger yet again over the observations of a poet who, as Dickinson herself proclaimed, ‘was always attached to Mud’.” —The New York Times Book Review Emily Dickinson was a keen observer of the natural world, but less well known is the fact that she was also an avid gardener—sending fresh bouquets to friends, including pressed flowers in her letters, and studying botany at Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke. At her family home, she tended both a small glass conservatory and a flower garden. In Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life, award-winning author Marta McDowell explores Dickinson’s deep passion for plants and how it inspired and informed her writing. Tracing a year in the garden, the book reveals details few know about Dickinson and adds to our collective understanding of who she was as a person. By weaving together Dickinson’s poems, excerpts from letters, contemporary and historical photography, and botanical art, McDowell offers an enchanting new perspective on one of America’s most celebrated but enigmatic literary figures. Read more

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From the Publisher Emily, As You’ve Never Seen Her When you hear the name “Emily Dickinson,” it may bring to mind a well-known image of a sixteen-year-old girl staring boldly out of a daguerreotype. Poetry, of course. Probably not gardening. Emily Dickinson as a gardener doesn’t fit with the Dickinson mythology. But beyond the stuff of literary legend, Emily Dickinson was a gardener. She shared a love of plants with her parents and siblings. To friends, she sent bouquets, and to some of her numerous correspondents, pressed flowers. She collected wildflowers. She studied botany at Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke. She tended both a small glass conservatory attached to the front of the house and a long flower garden sloping down the spacious east side of the grounds. Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life traces this little-know part of Dickinson’s life. It beautifully reveals the many ways her passion for plants sparked her creativity and inspired much of her beloved poetry. Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables Add to Cart Add to Cart Add to Cart Add to Cart Customer Reviews 851 382 199 299 Price $16 20 $27 95 $21 23 $22 57 More from Timber Press Traces the origins of Beatrix Potter’s love of gardening and plants and shows how this passion came to be reflected in her work. This revealing exploration of Wilder’s deep connection with the natural world follows the wagon trail of the beloved Little House series. Discover the real forest that inspired the magical landscapes where Pooh, Christopher Robin, and their friends live and play. Reveals how Montgomery’s connection to the landscapes of Prince Edward Island inspired her to write Anne of Green Gables.