{"id":98506,"date":"2021-06-04T18:41:52","date_gmt":"2021-06-04T22:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=98506"},"modified":"2021-06-04T18:41:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T22:41:52","slug":"under-western-skies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=98506","title":{"rendered":"Under Western Skies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“[M]ost gardens are a three-part alchemy between the riches and constraints of the natural and\/or cultural history of the place, the individual creativity and personality of the gardener, and the gardening culture in which both the garden and the gardener exist.”<\/p>preface to Under Western Skies<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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I’ve been taking small sips of this delicious new book by Jennifer Jewel and photographer Caitlin Atkinson, rich in both words and images. So often I become fixated on what the West lacks — abundant rainfall, for instance. Under Western Skies<\/em>‘ emphasis on the West’s natural beauty and the rare opportunities it affords to make unique gardens here has refreshed my appreciation for my home. This book shows that the only lack one must be wary of in making a garden in the West is imagination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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the Reids’ garden at Hog Hill, Sebastopol, Calif., photo by Caitlin Atkinson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rancho Arroyo, Phoenix, Arizona, photo by Caitlin Atkinson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nature Garden by Mia Lehrer, Natural History Museum, Los Angeles, Calif., photo by Caitlin Atkinson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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the Taft Gardens and Nature Preserve, Ojai, Calif., photo by Caitlin Atkinson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Marwin Gardens, Watsonville, Calif., photo by Caitlin Atkinson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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David Godshall’s Edendale Garden, Echo Park, Calif., photo by Caitlin Atkinson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Bernard Trainor’s garden, Carmel-By-The-Sea, photo by Caitlin Atkinson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Academy for the Love of Learning, New Mexico, photo by Caitlin Atkinson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Harborton Hill, Portland, Oregon, photo by Caitlin Atkinson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rarely do garden images and words complement each other as effectively as they do here; the collaborative synergy between writer and photographer comes through page after page. This over 400-page book is filled with unforgettable images of brilliant planting, such as cactus spires rising up from a froth of flowering buckwheat. And the detailed discussions of both the people and plants provide insight into the process of making a garden that can be universally applied, whatever sky you’re under. In books and magazines the West is often celebrated for the outdoor culture it has pioneered and exported, its patios and swimming pools, not its Coast Live Oaks, saguaros, Joshua trees and manzanitas. This plant-driven, deeply felt love letter to Western landscapes and gardens restores plants as central to the idea of a garden in the West, and for that alone it is to be cherished. It is highly recommended as a book to to be placed within easy access on your bookshelf, to be referred to over and over again when making a garden that attempts to honestly engage with your own unique land and sky. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(My copy of Under Western Skies<\/em> was kindly provided by Timber Press for review.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“[M]ost gardens are a three-part alchemy between the riches and constraints of the natural and\/or cultural history of the place, the individual creativity and personality of the gardener, and the gardening culture in which both the garden and the gardener … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1549],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-pCO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98506"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98506"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98911,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98506\/revisions\/98911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}