lessons from philadelphia gardens, with nicole juday and rob cardillo

THE AREA around Philadelphia is well known for its richness of public gardens, including many historic ones. But the region is also home to an impressive roster of distinctive private landscapes from formal 19th century European-style estates to mid-century modern residences and contemporary ones. Now, a new book takes us inside the gates of 21 of them, places filled with ideas for our own gardens maybe, too.

“Private Gardens of Philadelphia” (affiliate link) is the new book from garden writer Nicole Juday and photographer Rob Cardillo, both of them Pennsylvania gardeners in their own right. Its pages welcome us into a rich world of horticulture and landscape architecture, and they shared with me some of what they saw and learned in creating the book.

Plus: Enter to win a copy of the book by commenting in the box near the bottom of the page.

Read along as you listen to the May 6, 2024 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

philadelphia gardens, with nicole juday and rob cardillo

Margaret Roach: Oh, boy, there’s just so much beauty and so much to learn from reading and looking at the book. So just to get started, I keep wondering why this area around Philadelphia?[Laughter.] Because I mean, not long ago I read a book about the DuPont family gardens in the Brandywine Valley, in that same area, and now here’s your book.

And what are the forces that you guys think made this area so horticulturally rich? I know in the book you say something like, “It’s the northernmost southern city, and the southernmost northern city.” That made me laugh (and I wondered if I was going to be