I’ve had this little book on my shelf for sometime (it is actually my sisters find) and yesterday we were having breakfast outside and talking of children and gardens and I ran in to find this little book.  I had forgotten what a gem it was.  

It is a sweet book of another time.  The kind I love most.  It is meant to teach children gardening but yet offers much information and delight to adults alike.  The book is full of helpful gardening details, gorgeous drawings and actual garden plans.  The names are as lovely as the drawings….The Lavender Walk, The Sliced Cake, The Fairy Ring and The Moonlight Pleasance to name a few.  Besides the lovely plans and drawings my other favorite of this book is the listing of old fashioned flower names.  Why don’t we call our flowers Lady’s-Delight, Lad’s Love, Ragged Sailor and Never-Grow-Old anymore?  Oh the stories our gardens would tell.

The author Olive Percival seems to be a real lady of her time.  I enjoyed, just as much, reading about her life.  Flowers, children’s books, letters, writing and  beautiful things were all things she either spent her time doing or collecting and loved most.  She was quite famous for her garden teas and moon-viewing parties (what where those like, I wonder?) at her home The Down-hyl Claim in Lose Angeles.  She lived a gentle, quiet and yet meaningful life.