Emily Dickinson and her Garden

The New York Botanical Garden has recreated the Victorian garden of American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886): Emily Dickinson's Garden: the Poetry of Flowers. The garden will be on display until June 13, 2010. View images of the garden here. Emily Dickinson enjoyed gardening. Her letters were often accompanied by pressed flowers. The lovely picture book by Michael Bedard tells the story of a girl who visits Emily Dickinson's house with her mother and receives a poem with a flower.


And Marcy just told me about a new picture book titled "My Uncle Emily" in which Emily's nephew receives a poem from his aunt and a dead bee.

See also NYT article by Holland Cutter "My Hero, the Outlaw of Amherst".

For more books on gardens and the writers and poets who were inspired by them, see our display THE GARDEN AS MUSE. May is "Gifts from the Garden Month". Visit Connecticut's Historic Gardens.

December Literary Birthdays

Literary Birthdays for December include novelists Jane Austen and Gustave Flaubert, and poets John Milton and Emily Dickinson.

December 1 - Rex Stout (1886 - 1975)

December 2 - T.C. Boyle (1948 - )

December 2 - Ann Patchett (1963 - )

December 3 - Joseph Conrad (1857 - 1924)

December 4 - Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 -1926)

December 5 - Calvin Trillin (1935 - )

December 5 - Joan Didion (1934 - )

December 8 - James Thurber (1894 - 1961)

December 9 - John Milton (1608 - 1674)

December 10 - Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

December 11 - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918 -2008 )

December 11 - Naguib Mahfouz (1911 - 2006)

December 11 - Grace Paley (1922 - 2007)

December 12 - Gustave Flaubert (1821 - 1880)

December 14 - Shirley Jackson (1916 - 1965)

December 16 - Jane Austen (1775 - 1817)

December 16 - Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - 2008)

December 16 - Philip K. Dick (1928 -1982)

December 17 - Ford Madox Ford (1873 - 1939)

December 17 - John Kennedy Toole (1937 - 1969)

December 21 - Heinrich Böll (1917 - 1985)

December 21 - Rebecca West (1892 - 1983)

December 22 - Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869 - 1935)

December 24 - Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881 - 1958)

December 24 - Mary Higgins Clark (1929 - )

December 26 - Henry Miller (1891 - 1980)

December 29 - William Gaddis (1922 - 1998)

December 30 - Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)

December 30 - Paul Bowles (1910 - 1999)

May is Gifts from the Garden Month

Come to the library this month and check out our multi-media display GIFTS FROM THE GARDEN MONTH.
I am especially intrigued by our beautiful books on the history of gardens in art and painting. Below are just a few.

You can check out a natural sound collection on CD
titled THE GARDEN or the DVD Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn. There are books on garden design, garden history, botanical drawing, edible landscaping, etc.

New York's Botanical Garden has a special exhibit devoted
to Monet's Garden until Oct. 21.(article in New York Times, published May 18, 2012) Last year, the Botanical Garden
featured Emily Dickinson's Garden.

The New York Botonical Garden (website)


 
   The History of Gardens in Painting by Nils Büttner.
"The creation of gardens was among the first achievements of early civilizations, and garden design was already highly developed in antiquity. Pictures of gardens are a reflection of the social, historical, and aesthetic context in which gardens were conceived. The focus of this captivating book is not the gardens themselves or the different concepts of the garden, but rather the representation of gardens in paintings. The author examines why artists paint gardens by covering the varied and lively 2,000-year history of the garden picture using 180 masterpieces of gardens as examples. The text begins with a look at ancient Rome, when paintings of gardens, as found in villas in Pompeii, were already valued as works of art. The wide-ranging coverage also includes pictures of charming medieval gardens in books of hours; Botticelli's masterwork La Primavera, set in a grove of orange trees; views of well-known historic gardens, such as those at Versailles; painter's gardens, as for example, Monet's Giverny; and modern gardens depicted by Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, and David Hockney, among others. For collectors of art history books and garden books, this lovely volume should appeal to a broad audience."


Secrets of Monet's Garden: bringing the beauty of Monet's style to your own garden by Derek Fell

"Derek Fell examines Monet's planting philosophies, shedding light on his use of color, sense of structure, extravagant combinations of form and texture, and favorite flowers.




Vincent's Garden: paintings and drawings by Van Gogh by Ralph Skea.

"A book for gardeners and art lovers everywhere: a selection of Vincent van Gogh's garden and flower paintings and drawings. Presents Van Goghs lifelong love affair with the garden. This title illustrates a range of works, from iconic oils such as Irises to exquisite etchings and intimate sketches."

Things to do during National Poetry Month: Memorize a poem

Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.

What is the rest of that poem? Have you read the remaining four quatrains? Do you remember them?

I don't, but I think I might like to learn how to remember them. Poets.org has a site with tips for memorizing any poem, not just one by Emily Dickinson, or one that rhymes. Just make sure it's a favorite! That tends to help.