Paula Deitz is Editor of the Hudson Review. As a writer and cultural critic in the fields of art, architecture, design, and landscape design, she is a frequent contributor to the The New York Times, The Architectural Review, and Gardens Illustrated.

• IntroductionPrologue. The Lure of the Porch in Summer:Privacy and PleasureCHAPTER ONE. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERSDesigning Women: In-Depth View of Twentieth-Century Women Landscape DesignersBeatrix Farrand and The Bulletins of Reef Point GardensThe Private World of a Great Gardener: Rachel Lambert Mellon"Make the Land Work for You": Russell Page in AmericaProfile of Dan KileyGrounded in History: Deborah Nevins's LandscapesPrivate Visions: The Gardens of Michael Van ValkenburghA Cultivated Civilization: Barbara Stauffacher Solomon's Drawings of Classical GardensPlanting Plastic: Martha Schwartz Looks to Art for InspirationResurrection: The Built Landscapes of George HargreavesA Twinkling Terrace that Reaches for the Stars: Kathryn Gustafson in New York and FranceLandform Future: Laurie Olin and the Integration of Architecture and LandscapeA Feminist View of Landscapes: A Partnership with NatureCHAPTER TWO. PARKS AND PUBLIC PLACESA Bouquet of British Parks: Liverpool, Edinburgh, and LondonCentral Park's Bethesda Terrace and Its RestorationSummer in Central ParkFor This Movie, Step into the GardenRooftop Formal Gardens at Rockefeller CenterHortus Conclusus: The Gardens at the CloistersThe IBM Garden PlazaA Crystal Palace: Final Portrait of the Palm HouseGardens Fit for a QueenHartford's 1896 Rose Garden, Whose Ancestors Were Born in France2,700 Roses Re-create Old Garden: The Peggy Rockefeller Rose GardenA Victorian Gem Restored: The Enid A. Haupt ConservatoryA Centennial Bouquet: The Botanic Garden of Smith College, 1895-1995The Rose Garden at the White HouseA New Memorial Squanders a Sparkling OpportunityThe Green Gardens of Jerusalem: Parks, Squares, and PromenadesGarden Letter from Greece: The AgoraThe Moonlight Garden at the Taj MahalA Rare Garden in Barbados: Andromeda GardensAlong a Nature and Garden Trail in BermudaA Walk in the Park Around Jinji LakeCHAPTER THREE. AMERICANThe Poetics of the American Garden1680 Formal Garden Discovered in the SouthA Historic Colonial Plantation Recovered from the RoughFairsted: At Home with Frederick Law OlmstedAt Old Westbury, Gracious GardensStately Views: A 1920s Garden Inspired by the Villa d'EsteMediterranean Light: A Classic Italian Garden in CaliforniaWethersfield: In the Style of an Italian Villa GardenThe American Academy in RomeThe Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden: A Blend of Far Eastern and English InspirationFar East, Down East: A Classic Asian LandscapeA Cultivated Coast: The Garden at Somes MeadowOn Maine's Coast, Vistas Are Cast in StoneAutumn in New EnglandCHAPTER FOUR. BRITISHThe Painted Garden: William Kent's RoushamPainshill Park: Charles Hamilton's Folly GardenThe Waterways of Castle HowardReclaiming Noble Gardens of the Towy ValleyClassic Garden Tames a Fierce Welsh Crag: Powis CastleBuckhurst Park: From Humphry Repton to EdwinLutyens and Gertrude JekyllLanning Roper's English Gardens with a U.S. FlavorMachine in the Garden: Charles Jencks's Garden of Scottish WorthiesSitting in the Garden: A HistoryCHAPTER FIVE. FRENCHThe Gardens of VersaillesAn Echo of a Memory: Recultivating the TuileriesThe Formal Farm: Pascal Cribier's Vision of Rural GeometryThe DÉsert de Retz: Cultural History Through ArchitectureCHAPTER SIX. JAPANESEAutumn in JapanJapanese Screens and the Gardens of KyotoBalancing Act: A Contemporary Garden for Kyoto's Oldest HouseTea and Empathy: The Japanese House, Shofuso, in Fairmount ParkRice Paddy in the Sky: Rooftop Garden at the Mori CenterPlum Blossoms: The Third Friend of WinterCHAPTER SEVEN. FLOWER SHOWSCourson: French International Flower SaleAt Chelsea Flower Show: Gardens in Romantic RuinsFree to Grow Bluebells in England: British Prisoners Win Gold MedalA Garden Festival in LausanneEpilogue. A Winter Garden of YellowAfterword-John Dixon HuntAcknowledgmentsIndexPhotography Credits

"Deitz applies a cool intelligence, formidable powers of observation, and extensive research to convey the experience of walking through her chosen landscapes and unearthing the layers of their creation." (Times Literary Supplement) "This is a book for the savvy reader who enjoys an intelligent discussion of gardens without all the glossy eye-candy photographs that pervade most books today. . . . No matter what the subject is that catches Deitz's fancy, she always manages to draw her reader in without pomposity or jargon." (Landscape Architecture Magazine) "In over 70 essays, covering places and people all over the world, Deitz fuses her emotional response perfectly with what must have involved a massive amount of historical, horticultural and literary research. For anyone jaded with reading about gardens, or (heaven forbid) with visiting them, her intelligent appreciation of gardens, new and old, must surely revive and inspire." (Historic Gardens Review) "Though not intended as a guidebook, Of Gardens will bring readers to the conclusion that the next best thing to having Paula Deitz as their traveling companion on a forthcoming garden tour is to read the relevant essay in her book. In the manner of similar collections, this book might have been titled The Best of Deitz. And, as we have seen, the best of Deitz is very good indeed." (New Criterion) "When it comes to gardens of lavish beauty, a picture may truly be worth a thousand words. Rare is the text that can match this feat, but in her sumptuous essay collection, Deitz more than meets the challenge, crafting worlds so precise in their detail and lush in their imagery the effect is as dazzling as any rendered by an artist or photographer. Here are the iconic gardens of the world-the Taj Mahal's Moonlight Garden, Versailles, Kew Gardens-laid out in verdant glory that is made richer for Deitz's insider revelations of arcane aspects of design or development. Here, too, are the acclaimed landscape architects who made it all happen, with special attention paid to trailblazing women such as Beatrix Farrand and Deborah Nevins. A prolific journalist with vast interests in divergent yet mutually illuminating fields, Deitz masterfully celebrates the myriad attractions of gardens both great and small, public and private, and their ability to enrich, ennoble, and entertain." (Booklist )