After their phenomenal sucsess with the 2001 book, Gardens Maine Style, writer Rebecca Sawyer-Fay and photographer Lynn Karlin now raise the curtain on fabulous public and private gardens in their new book, Gardens Maine Style, Act II. Here they discuss the garden as a scene of drama, and tell us why they’re still thrilled to make garden discoveries.

Q:  Your new book’s intriguing title suggests your regard gardens as a place of drama. Please tell us more about how this notion inspired you and helped you organize Gardens Maine Style, Act II.

Rebecca: Inspiration for the book came from all the gardeners who, when showing us something phenomenal in their yards, have said to us time and again, “It’s just magic!” We began to see that they had a point: The garden is a lot like a magic show or a theatrical performance, with star performers, set designers, and great acts---“Vanishing Act,” which takes a look at plants that mysteriously reappear after we think they’re long gone, and “Juggling Act,” about outstanding gardeners who lead hectic lives, are just two chapters that reflect the theme.

Q: You are accustomed to gaining entrée into not just public but private gardens. Does it still thrill you, though, when you enter a new private landscape?

Lynn: When I was a kid, scavenger hunts were one of my favorite pastimes. These days, discovering a great garden is a lot like those scavenger hunts I used to love---you’ve got to follow countless leads before you get to the prize. And finding that prize is always special.


Q: What do each of you enjoy most about getting acquainted with a landscape that you have never seen before?

Rebecca: Digging around to get the garden’s back-story is often a lot of fun. I try to find out the history of the land before the current owner took possession, and if any topographical characteristics influenced the garden’s design. For instance, was the land farmed, and if so, how? (Animals can leave behind valuable fertility). Some gardens are created in 18th- and 19th-century cellar holes and others in abandoned quarries. The story behind the story can be fascinating!

Lynn: When I see a garden for the first time, I’m always eager to watch it evolve through the seasons. I know that the garden in early spring will be far different from the garden in late autumn. Photographically, there will be many stories to tell.


Q: While the gardens you focus on are all in Maine, they contain ideas that may be used by gardeners elsewhere, too. Please tell us some things that green thumbs who do not live in Maine will find useful – inspirationally and practically – in their own backyards.

Rebecca: Design basics outlined in Chapter III (“Setting the Scene”) are as applicable to gardeners in Miami as to those in Machias. No matter where you live you need good, year-round structure, a focal point, and satisfying color. You’ll want to create a sense of place---successful gardens often celebrate the surrounding natural environment rather than deny it. And the book’s tips for creating knock-out containers (including a wide variety of window boxes) should be useful to apartment dwellers as well as landowners. Chapter VIII (“Great Escapes”) features outbuildings, or tiny retreats, that can be duplicated anywhere.


Q: In Gardens Maine Style, Act II, readers will find information on everything from garden design as undertaken by professionals to tips for making one’s own quick-and-easy container garden. How consciously did you set out to balance the grand and the simple?

Lynn: It wasn’t conscious at all. The book is a reflection of what’s really going on out there. Gardeners with a lot of money are creating unforgettable landscapes, but so are those who must rely on their imaginations rather than on their wallets. Everyone can get in on the act.