‘lessons from the great gardeners,’ with matthew biggs

HOWEVER THEIR DREAMS were realized, author Mathew Biggs writes about the 40 icons covered in his book “Lessons From the Great Gardeners,” their aim was the same: to perfect the art of the garden.

What special innovation in technique, exceptional plants, or flair with color or design did each of those 40 hand down to the rest of us? Matthew Biggs’s book is loaded with their garden wisdoms, and also with the charming tale of each luminary and how they got to the garden in the first place.

Matthew, who trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is the author of various earlier books including “The Complete Book of Vegetables,” and is a regular presenter on BBC Radio 4’s “Gardener’s Question Time” and a popular broadcaster and garden writer in the UK.

Read along as you listen to the Dec. 5, 2016 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

q&a on the great gardeners’ lessons, with matthew biggs

Q. I was so glad that the University of Chicago Press picked up this book for the American market, Matthew.

A. It’s a real honor for me, and what I found particularly fascinating was to look more at some of the American gardeners, and to see this great and longstanding link between them and the gardeners in the UK.

Q. When I first began gardening, I remember that it was right on the cusp when it was still fashionable to study British gardeners in particular, and admire them and read their work. A few years later, it was like, “No, no, we all need to be American and proud of our own gardeners.” So I was glad to see that this book has a mixture from many different nations.

A. The whole idea when we thought about it was

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