Amazing. Most designers have heard of the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Hill, California, and know that it was this garden that marked the inception of the Garden Conservancy. But I bet you didn't know that Timber Press released this book about it last month -- in celebration of Ruth's 108th birthday! If that's not a testament to the healthy benefits of gardening, I don't know what is.
If you haven't been to Ruth's garden, you may want to consider this stunning book about her personal creation, The Bold Dry Garden: Lessons from the Ruth Bancroft Garden by Sunset garden editor Johanna Silver with photos by acclaimed garden photographer Marion Brenner.
Aside from the shrubs, roses, and perennials -- and the 200 foot long border of bearded iris -- it's a collection of plants that do well in dry conditions, from cacti to agaves and aloes to grasses, palms and conifers.
The book takes the reader chronologically through the development of the garden, from Ruth's first purchase of a succulent -- a rosette-shaped aeonium -- at an estate sale, to the dramatic garden that draws thousands of visitors each year. About half way through the book, the author homes in on the kinds of plants you'll find in this garden: small succulents like crassula and echeveria; architectural plants, like yuccas and agaves; flowering plants like aloe and ice plants; California natives; and trees.
It's all documented in the book, with gorgeous photos and plenty of advice on how to cultivate these plants and keep them going. As author Silver notes, "With climate change on the horizon, we are faced with the opportunity to channel the Ruth in all of us. Without knowing how it will turn out, can we challenge ourselves to be adventurous in our plant choices, attentive to climatic cues, undaunted by failure, and contented by our gardens? Just imagine what might be possible from the procurement of one innocent-looking rosette."
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