Designers will likely know many of the women profiled in this book, but in The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants
Each woman gets three or four pages that describe her work over many years, along with lovely photos of each person and her specific art. Many of the women will be familiar: designers Edwina von Gal, Julie Moir Messervy, Lady Arabella Boyd; landscape architects Martha Schwartz and Mia Lehrer.
Writers include Amy Stewart, Anna Pavord, and Jamaica Kincaid. You'll also meet Gwen Stauffer, CEO at Lotusland in Montecito, CA, an old friend who I first met seemingly eons ago when she was horticultural director at Hillwood Museum & Gardens in DC. And nurserywoman Annie Hayes of Annie's Annuals & Perennials, who says "Plants make my heart leap." And botanist Julie Kierstead Nelson of the US Forest Service; Mary Pat Matheson, CEO of the Atlanta Botanical Garden; garden photographer Marion Brenner -- and many, many more.
Jewell's profiles are heavy on US West Coast women, but you'll find others from all around the world. Keep this book by your bedside and dip into it every once in a while. You'll be inspired by every story you read. And if you haven't yet tuned in, Jewell's public radio program, Cultivating Place.
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