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This year,
with its momentous digit change, I thought it would be fitting
to do a special issue that looks forward as well as back. Besides
our usual features, all the pieces in this issue revolve around
the concept of our gardens' past and future. Cristina has taken
a fascinating look back at the Spanish Colonial Revival style
that emerged in California early in this century, while I have
turned my attention in the other direction, to a subject that
is very dear to my heart: the importance of reviving stewardship
in this country. We have also resumed our practice, which for
some reason had fallen into remission, of reprinting select writings
from old garden books. Winifred Starr Dobyns' lovely essay on
the California garden, written in 1931, is one of the classics
on this subject. The article on Colonial flower gardens is a particular
treat-written exactly one hundred years ago at the dawn of another
new century by the man who recreated the gardens at Williamsburg,
Arthur Shurcliff.
Looking ahead
ourselves, we are delighted to welcome Lee Reich, the garden writer
for The Associated Press, and distinguished author in his
own right, to our list of contributors. Lee's offbeat, quirky
articles on traditional gardening styles and practices-supported
by a profound practical knowledge and hands-on expertise-make
a perfect addition to our lineup. Lee will also be working with
us on our new radio series, The Cultivated Gardener. (Yes,
we finally managed to get a mass-media program off the ground!)
This engaging, weekly hour-long program, which debuted nationally
on the last day of September, has, so far, been enthusiastically
received. To find out when it airs in your area, call your local
public radio station. And if for some reason it's not available
yet, please do ask them to run it: public radio belongs to you,
and the program is distributed free to all noncommercial stations.
Finally, as
you will gather from repeated references in the upcoming pages,
my first book is out at last. There was a running bet here whether
or not the thing would make it out the publisher's door before
the century turned. The New Traditional Garden is now available
from booksellers across the United States and Canada, and has,
to date, received excellent reviews. I would like to take a moment
to thank the people who have so patiently and diligently worked
behind the scenes to make this all possible, especially my editor
at Ballantine, Joanne Wyckoff, and Karen Watts at Lark Productions,
who proposed the project in the first place. Last, but not least,
a special round of thanks to Traditional Gardening's editor,
and my business partner, Cristina Roig Morris, who believed enough
in this venture to invest considerable time, effort and finances,
and who continues to make all these good things happen.
And so gentle
reader, for the fourth and last time in the 1900s, our very best
wishes for the happiest of holidays and a joyous new year.
by
Michael Weishan, Publisher
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