Washington's Gardens at Mount Vernon

GARDENING In this engaging book, Griswold (The Golden Age of American Gardens, Abrams, 1991) draws a very appealing and human portrait of George Washington as farmer and gardener. She notes that the 'secret George,' a figure increasingly remote from our time, can be seen as more accessible through his 'passionate domesticity.' Her text conjures up a man who walked his fields, puttered in his gardens, and, when politics called him away, shopped at nurseries for desirable plants to ship home. It is also a fascinating introduction to gardening and farming practices in late 18th-century America. Washington tried many agricultural innovations, though ultimately the infertility of the land defeated many of them. Nor does Griswold ignore the reality of slave labor at the plantation, 'the unwilling machinery of his farm.' Washington's innovations made more work for them, but some ultimately benefited by becoming skilled farmers rather than unskilled field hands. The beauty of his garden design has endured, however, and Griswold includes many tips from the present gardeners at Mount Vernon on growing plants typical of Washington's day. Recommended for most gardening collections. [This book is being published to coincide with the restoration of Mount Vernon's gardens; this year is also the bicentennial of Washington's death. Ed.] Beth Clewis Crim, Prince William P.L., VA-