Page Dickey

This is my starting rating, based on a possibly foolish decision to listen to this as an audiobook. I'm planning to re-read it in paper, in hopes of pictures. Many types of plants listed, many garden areas described, all of them would benefit from images, and I strongly suspect those exist. ** yes, I’m fact they do, and they add a lot to the book. I wish there were even more, but I recommend the physical book over the audio, despite the good reader.**

Things I loved:
Strong New England nostalgia hitting me, and I was excited to hear about gardens in the Berkshires -- love that region, and want to know more about the plants.
It's an interesting transition that they are experiencing, and book is well written and well paced.
There's a refreshing honesty -- no shying away from discussion of finances or the limitations of age. I liked that Page acknowledges her privileged position, too.

Things I found uncomfortable at times:
This is a memoir by a clearly wealthy woman, part of a wealthy couple. It's very white. It's very East Coast old money. Sometimes it's really hard to connect to, because I have no experience with the scale of wealth that Page and Bosco enjoy. Page's hatred for kidney shaped pools; the economy of foregoing a greenhouse, but not considering scaling back on purchasing 700 bulbs every year... downsizing to 17 acres and having the money for significant construction on their new house... I just can't imagine what that would be like. Also being able to pay 2 people to garden and help with tasks, even part time, is pretty unimaginable to me. They are also elderly and retired, so the luxury of time is something I can't quite imagine either.

That said, they aren't in the category of the super rich -- it's just kind of interesting to see how the well-off live. It's also easy to understand the rich appreciation of nature the Page so eloquently conveys, and imagining the beauty that they create with what they have is a delight in its own right.… (more)

Page Dickey knows a ton about plants, shrubs, and trees, and that comes out in the detail of this beautiful gardening memoir. This book is a detailed look at how Ms. Dickey plans and transforms the landscape and gardens at her new home at Church House in Connecticut after moving from her beloved home at Duck Hill in Upstate New York.

This book is filled with really lovely photography, showing different places in and around Church House. All of the photos are really stunning and, honestly, they make me want to spend a lot more time outside.

I will say that I had hoped for a little more of the emotional aspect of starting over in a new home after leaving one you had lived in for many years. I wanted to feel some of what Ms. Dickey and her husband felt in making their big decision to relocate and then in making their new home comfortable for them. Ms. Dickey didn't really write that sort of thing in this book. Rather, this book is mostly the author sharing details about her new garden: thoughts about what she planted, where she planted it, and why. I would say that the folks that will love this the most are the probably the ones that have a pretty good base of knowledge about horticultural things and landscape design.

Many thanks to Timber Press for providing a digital copy of this book via NetGalley for my review. These thoughts are my own!… (more)