America's Romance with the English Garden

By: Thomas J. Mickey

Narrated by: Mickey Gousset

The 1890s saw a revolution in advertising. Cheap paper, faster printing, rural mail delivery, railroad shipping, and chromolithography combined to pave the way for the first modern, mass-produced catalogs. The most prominent of these, reaching American households by the thousands, were seed and nursery catalogs with beautiful pictures of middle-class homes surrounded by sprawling lawns, exotic plants, and the latest garden accessories - in other words, the quintessential English-style garden.

America’s Romance with the English Garden is the story of tastemakers and homemakers, of savvy businessmen and a growing American middle class eager to buy their products. It’s also the story of the beginnings of the modern garden industry, which seduced the masses with its images and fixed the English garden in the mind of the American consumer. Seed and nursery catalogs delivered aspirational images to front doorsteps from California to Maine, and the English garden became the look of America.

Named one of “the year's best gardening books” by The Spectator.

©2013 Ohio University Press (P)2018 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

“Mickey has thoughtfully woven together an American landscape design history with a critical examination of how commercial interests and mass media shape our preferences.” (Publishers Weekly)

“An illuminating book packed with very readable results of dedicated and thoughtful research.” (Gardens Illustrated)

“Wonderfully enlightening book.” (Focus on Flowers, Indiana Public Media)

Very informative

This is unusual audio-book chock full of information. It's perfect for anyone looking to learn more about the history of gardening....maybe a budding botanist or a future master gardener hopeful. Definitely enjoyed it and I think it may serve as a useful future reference. Well written, but not fast paced at all. This is a work of non-fiction and it has a meandering pace. Good for bedtime reading. I was given this free review copy audio-book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.